Chap. XIII. EMPLOYMENT OF MONKEYS. 237 



Buddhists. There are also some farms established 

 for the supply of the court of Peking. They are 

 called the imperial enclosures ; but I suspect that 

 they too are, to a certain extent, under the manage- 

 ment and control of the priests. The tea-shrub is 

 cultivated everywhere, and often in the most inac- 

 cessible situations, such as on the summits and ledges 

 of precipitous rocks. Mr. Ball states* that chains are 

 said to be used in collecting the leaves of the shrubs 

 growing in such places ; and I have even heard it 

 asserted (I forget whether by the Chinese or by 

 others) that monkeys are employed for the same 

 purpose, and in the following manner : — These ani- 

 mals, it seems, do not like work, and would not 

 gather the leaves willingly ; but when they are seen 

 up amongst the rocks where the tea-bushes are grow- 

 ing, the Chinese throw stones at them ; the monkeys 

 get very angry, and commence breaking off the 

 branches of the tea-shrubs, which they throw down at 

 their assailants ! 



I should not like to assert that no tea is gathered 

 on these hills by the agency of chains and monkeys, 

 but I think it may be safely affirmed that the quan- 

 tity procured in such ways is exceedingly small. The 

 greatest quantity is grown on level spots on the hill- 

 sides, which have become enriched, to a certain ex- 

 tent, by the vegetable matter and other deposits 

 which have been washed down by the rains from a 

 higher elevation. Very little tea appeared to be 

 cultivated on the more barren spots amongst the 



* Cultivation and Manufacture of Tea. 



