ns exactly verified the opinions I had
formed on the subject before I left England, viz: that the black
teas were prepared from the _Thea Bohea_, and the green from _Thea
viridis_. When I left the north, on my way to the city of
Foo-chow-foo, on the river Min, in the province Fokien, I had no
doubt that I should find the tea hills there covered with the other
species, _Thea Bohea_, from which we generally suppose the black
teas are made; and this was the more likely to be the case as this
species actually derives its specific name from the Bohea hills in
this province. Great was my surprise to find all the plants on the
tea hills near Foo-chow exactly the same as those in the green tea
districts of the north. Here were, then, green tea plantations on
the black tea hills, and not a single plant of the _Thea Bohea_ to
be seen. Moreover, at the time of my visit, the natives were busily
employed in the manufacture of black teas. Although the specific
differences of the tea plant were well known to me, I was so much
surprised, and I may add amused, at this discovery, that I procured
a set of specimens for the herbarium, and also dug up a living
plant, which I took northward to Chekiang. On comparing it with
those which grow on the green tea hills, no difference whatever was
observed. It appears, therefore, that the black and green teas of
the northern districts of China (those districts in which the
greater part of the teas for the foreign market are made) are both
produced from the same variety, and that that variety is the _Thea
viridis_, or what is commonly called green tea plant. On the other
hand those black and green teas which are manufactured in
considerable quantities in the vicinity of Canton, are obtained
from the _Thea Bohea_, or black tea.

In the green tea districts of Chekiang, near Ningpo, the first crop
of leaves is generally gathered about the middle of April. This
consists of the young leaf buds just as they begin to unfold, and
forms a fine and delicate kind of young hyson, which is held in high
estimation by the natives, and is generally sent about in small
quantities as presents to their friends. It is a scarce and
expensive article, and the picking off the leaves in such a young
state does considerable injury to the tea plantation. The summer
rains, however, wh