Chap. X. 
TEA-GROWING COUNTRY. 
167 
road or at the inn, the chests are set down upon the 
ground, and consequently get soiled, and do not arrive 
at their destination in as good order as those carried in 
the other way. 
The route we pursued was now in all respects a high- 
land road. At one time we were passing through a beau- 
tiful valley, at another our road wound round the moun- 
tain side, and frequently it boldly breasted the hill, and 
led us over into another valley beyond. As we went over 
the passes we always rested while on the highest point, 
from which we obtained a view, not only of the valley 
through which we had come, but also of that to which 
we were going. The long trains of coolies laden with 
chests of tea and other produce, and with the mountain 
chairs of travellers, presented a busy and curious scene, 
as they toiled up the mountain side, or were seen wind- 
ing their way through the valleys. These were views 
of " China and the Chinese as they are seen in every- 
day life. 
After leaving the town of Yuen-shan we entered a 
large tea-growing country. The shrubs were dotted on 
the lower sides of all the fertile hills. Sometimes they 
were growing on level land, but that was invariably dry, 
well drained by its position, and much higher than rice- 
ground. The soil of these plantations consisted of a 
red-coloured loam mixed with a considerable portion of 
gravel and sand. Many of the tea-farms had been but 
lately formed, and the cultivation of the shrub in this 
district is evidently on the increase. Tea grown and 
manufactured here can of course be conveyed to the 
great export marts of Shanghae and Canton much 
