ticle of commerce throughout Central and
Northern Asia and the Himalayan provinces; and is consumed by Mongols,
Tartars, and Tibetans, churned with milk, salt, butter, and boiling
water, more as a soup than as tea proper. Certain quantities are
forced upon the acceptance of the Western tributaries of the Chinese
Empire, in payment for the support of troops, &c.; and is hence, from
its convenient size and form, brought into circulation as a coin, over
an area greater than that of Europe.--_Dr. Hooker, in Jury Reports_.

The quantity and value of the tea imported into the United States,
from 1821, is thus stated:--

Years. Pounds. Value, dolls.
1821 4,975,646 1,322,636
1822 6,639,434 1,860,777
1823 8,210,010 2,361,245
1824 8,920,487 2,786,812
1825 10,209,548 3,728,935
1826 10,108,900 3,752,281
1827 5,875,638 1,714,882
1828 7,707,427 2,451,197
1829 6,636,790 2,060,457
1830 8,609,415 2,425,018
1831 5,182,867 1,418,037
1832 9,906,606 2,788,353
1833 14,639,822 5,484,603
1834 16,282,977 6,217,949
1835 14,415,572 4,522,806
1836 16,382,114 5,342,811
1837 16,982,384 5,903,054
1838 14,418,112 3,497,156
1839 9,439,817 2,428,419
1840 20,006,595 5,427,010
1841 10,772,087 3,075,332
1842 13,482,645 3,567,745
1843 12,785,748 3,405,627
1844 13,054,327 3,152,225
1845 17,162,550 4,802,621
1846 16,891,020 3,983,337
1847 14,221,410 3,200,056
1848 18,889,217

The annual reports of the Secretary to the Treasury, for the last
twenty years, show a considerable increase in the consumption of tea
in the United States, but not so great as in the article of coffee.
The establishment of tea shops, in all the large cities of America, is
a new feature in the retail trade, dating only some six years back.

The average rate of duty, which previously ranged between thirty and
thirty-four cents. per pound, was reduced in 1832 to fourteen cents
(7d.) a pound.

The proportion of green to black used is shown by the following return
of the imports:--