2 I 1 
GROWTH of TEA. 
a very good fort : the remaining leaves are fuffered to come to 
their full bignefs, which makes the third kind, and is exceed- 
ing cheap. 
They make ftill another fort of the flower itfelf, but thofe 
who would have it, mud befpeak it before hand, and purchafe 
it at an exceflive price : notwithftanding which, it makes a very 
infipid tea, and is never ufed at the emperor’s court* 
There are feveral other teas, which are very little different 
from the two principal kinds, but what is owing to the nature 
of the foil in which they are planted : and there are feveral 
plants to which they give the name of tea, which are nothing 
Like it. However there is a third principal fort, of which we 
'can give but an imperfect account, becaufe ftrangers are not 
permitted to enter the place where it grows. It is called pou 
eul tcha, from the village pou eul in the province of yun 
nan. Thofe who have been at the foot of the mountain, in- 
form us, that this fhrub is tall and bufhy, planted without re- 
gularity, and grows without cultivation. The leaves are more 
long, and thick, than thofe of the two former kinds : they roll 
them up into a kind of balls, and fell them at a good price. 
The tafte is fmooth, but not very agreeable ; when it is made 
ufe of in the ordinary manner, it yields a reddiffi tin&ure. The 
Chinese phyflcians account it very falutary, and a certain re- 
medy for the cholic and fluxes, and alfo very good to procure 
an appetite.” 
Thus far father du halde ; upon which I muft take leave 
to obferve, that Europeans, finding it difficult to pronounce 
E e 2 the 
