Chap. XI. 
TSONG-GAN-HIEN. 
183 
courage everything of the kind for the future. I knew 
that I had still a long journey before me and many 
expenses, and it would not do for me to run short of 
money by the way. 
I was now on the outskirts of the great black-tea 
country of Fokien. I observed large quantities of tea- 
plants under cultivation. They were generally to be 
found on the lower sides of the hills, and also in the 
gardens of the villagers. About ten o'clock in the 
forenoon we arrived at Tsong-gan-hien, a large town 
in the midst of the black-tea country, where nearly all 
the teas of this district are packed and prepared for 
exportation. Tsong-gan-hien, according to observations 
made by the Jesuits many years ago, is situated in 
latitude 27° 47' 38" north. It stands in the midst 
of a fertile plain of small extent, surrounded by hills, 
and is in the district of Kein-ning-foo, a city to which 
I have already alluded in my journey up the river 
Min. 
The walls of the city are about three miles in circum- 
ference. Both these and the ramparts are in many 
parts ruinous and overgrown with weeds. They seem 
hoary with age, and were doubtless built in more 
warlike times than the present. The population may 
amount to one hundred thousand inhabitants, but I 
have no means of forming a correct estimate. The 
suburbs, which I include in this calculation, are very 
large and populous, and extend a considerable way 
down the sides of the river. 
This city abounds in large tea-hongs, in which the 
