148 
TEA TREE. 
kinds of beverage which the English consume, this 
holds the first rank. This nation alone consumes 
more than all the rest of Europe : they attach so 
much importance to its use, that the first rhark of 
politeness they show to strangers is an invitation to 
drink tea with them. 
So much for M. du Tour, to whose accusation we 
in part plead guilty. — We are fond of tea, go many 
thousand miles to fetch it, and invite strangers to 
partake of our beverage, but seldom or ever drink 
twenty cups in the course of twenty-four hours. The 
plant, it must be confessed, is become of great im- 
portance to this country, whether considered in a 
commercial light, or as affording us an agreeable 
infusion, which custom has rendered necessary to 
our comfort : it therefore behoves us to pay parti- 
cular attention to its history ; and, accordingly, we 
have collected all the information on the subject 
that we could procure, independent of such as is not 
immediately connected with its natural history. It 
wil|, however, be but just, before we begin, to ac- 
knowledge the assistance we have received from 
the works of Ksempfer and Thunberg ; from Le 
Compte’s, Du Halde’s, and Grosier’s China ; from 
Lord Macartney’s Embassy, and from Dr. Lettsom’s 
Natural History of the Tea Tree. 
Description of the Tea Tree. 
This shrub grows but slowly, and does not ar- 
rive at its full size till it is six or seven years old. It 
attains the height of four or five feet, and sometimes 
