CiiAP. XV. 
MAKING BLACK TEA. 
239 
the manipulation of green tea. The leaves are thrown 
into an iron pan, where they are roasted for about five 
minutes and then rolled upon the rattan table. 
After being rolled, the leaves are shaken out, thinly, 
on sieves, and exposed to the air out of doors. A frame- 
work for this purpose, made of bamboo, is generally 
seen in front of all the cottages amongst the tea-hills. 
The leaves are allowed to remain in this condition for 
about three hours : during this time the workmen are 
employed in going over the sieves in rotation, turning 
the leaves and separating them from each other. A fine 
dry day, when the sun is not too bright, seems to be pre- 
ferred for this part of the operation. 
The leaves, having now lost a large portion of their 
moisture, and having become reduced considerably in 
size, are removed into the factory. They are put a 
second time into the roasting-pan for three or four 
minutes, and taken out and rolled as before. 
The charcoal fires are now got ready. A tubular 
basket, narrow at the middle and wide at both ends, is 
placed over the fire. A sieve is dropped into this tube 
and covered with leaves, which are shaken on it to about 
an inch in thickness. After five or six minutes, during 
which time they are carefully watched, they are removed 
from the fire and rolled a third time. As the balls of 
leaves come from the hands of the roller they are placed 
in a heap until the whole have been rolled. They are 
again shaken on the sieves as before, and set over the 
fire for a little while longer. Sometimes the last opera- 
tion, namely, heating and rolling, is repeated a fourth 
time : the leaves have now assumed their dark colour. 
