Were such results doubtful, we have only to look across the
frontiers of India into China. Here we find tea one of the
necessaries of life, in the strictest sense of the word. A Chinese
never drinks cold water, which he abhors, and considers unhealthy.
Tea is his favorite beverage from morning until night; not what we
call tea, mixed with milk and sugar, but the essence of the herb
itself, drawn out in pure water. One acquainted with the habits of
this people can scarcely conceive the idea of the Chinese empire
existing were it deprived of the tea plant; and I am sure that the
extensive use of this beverage adds much to the health and comfort
of the great body of the people.

The people of India are not unlike the Chinese in many of their
habits. The poor of both countries eat sparingly of animal food, and
rice, with other grains and vegetables, form the staple articles on
which they live; this being the case, it is not at all unlikely the
Indian will soon acquire a habit which is so universal in the sister
country. But in order to enable him to drink tea, it must be
produced at a cheap rate; he cannot afford to pay at the rate of
four or six shillings a pound. It must be furnished to him at four
_pence_ or six _pence_ instead; and this can be done easily, but
only on his own hills. If this is accomplished, and I see no reason
why it should not be, a boon will have been conferred upon the
people of India, of no common kind, and one which an enlightened and
liberal government may well be proud of conferring on its subjects."

I shall now add a description of the Chinese method of making black
tea in Upper Assam, by Mr. C.A. Bruce, superintendent of tea
culture:--

"In the first place, the youngest and most tender leaves are
gathered; but when there are many hands and a great quantity of
loaves to be collected, the people employed nip off with the
forefinger and thumb the fine end of the branch, with about four
leaves on, and sometimes even more if they look tender. These are
all brought to the place where they are to be converted into tea:
they are then put into a large, circular, open worked bamboo basket,
having a rim all round, two fingers broad. The leaves are thinly
scattered in these baskets, and then placed in a framework of
bamboo, in all appearance like the sides of an Indi