Chap. IV. 
SUNG-LO-SHAN. 
67 
Sung-lo-shan appears to be between two and three 
thousand feet above the level of the plains. It is very 
barren, and, whatever may have formerly been the case, 
it certainly produces but little tea now ; indeed, from 
all I could learn, the tea that grows upon it is quite 
neglected, as far as cultivation is concerned, and is only 
gathered to supply the wants of the priests of Fo, who 
have many temples amongst these rugged wilds. Never- 
theless it is a place of great interest to every Chinaman, 
and has afforded a subject to many of their writers. 
The low lands of this district, and those of Moo-yuen 
situated a few miles further south, produce the greater 
part of the fine green teas of commerce ; hence the dis- 
tinction betwixt hill-tea and garden-tea, the latter 
simply applying to those teas which are carefully cul- 
tivated in the plains. The soil here is a rich loam, not 
unlike the cotton-soil of Shanghae, but more free in 
its texture, being mixed with a considerable portion of 
sand. 
The rocks in this part of the country are chiefly com- 
posed of Silurian slate, like that found in England, and 
resting upon it is a red calcareous sandstone similar to 
the new red sandstone of Europe. This sandstone has 
the effect of giving a reddish tinge to the barren hills, as 
it crumbles to pieces. I met with no fossil organic re- 
mains in these rocks, but my time and opportunities did 
not permit me to investigate them very minutely. 
The flora here has a northern character, — that is, the 
genera common in England or in the northern part,s of 
India are common, while those shrubs and trees which { 
are met with only in tropical countries are entirely un- 
