APPENDIX. 
79 
five miles to the northward of Amarapura. Mohammedan 
and Burman merchants of Ava go to Banmo to meet the 
Chinese, part of whom come down to Midai in December. 
I have visited the fair at Midai, and think there could not 
be less than four thousand Chinese there. 
Q. What goods did the Chinese import ?■— A. Copper, 
orpiment, quicksilver, vermilion, iron-pans, silver, gold, 
rhubarb, tea, fine honey, raw silk, spirits, hams, musk, 
verdigris, dry fruits, and a few fresh fruits, with some dogs 
and pheasants. 
Q. What description of tea is it that the Chinese 
bring ?— A. It is black tea, of different qualities, made up 
in round cakes or balls: some of it is of very fine flavour, 
and some very indifferent. 
Q. Do you know of what part of China this tea is the 
produce?— A. No; I do not, but suppose it to be the 
production of the provinces adjacent to the Burman 
Empire. I have made three voyages to Canton, but never 
saw tea of the same description there. 
Q. What are the ordinary prices of this tea in Ava ? 
— A. When the caravan arrives, the price of tea is low, 
but rises when it goes away. I never paid, by retail, more 
than one tical a vis, (three pounds sixty-five cents,) for 
what I purchased for my own use. 
Q. Do you consider this tea fit for the European 
market?— A. Yes ; I think the best quality is. There are 
much worse teas drank in Europe. 
Q. For whose use is this tea imported?— A. Chiefly 
for that of the Chinese residents. The Mohammedan 
residents also use a considerable quantity, as well as the 
higher classes of Burmans—all, in short, that can afford it. 
Q. Are you aware that the tea-plant is the production 
of some parts of the Burman Empire ?~—A. Yes; but I 
do not know of what part. Tea, under the name of 
