ither burn themselves nor allow the
masses of leaves to adhere to the hot bottom of the pan. It is easy
to see that, if the pan was placed within another pan filled with
boiling water, and the leaves were stirred with an iron spatula,
much trouble might be obviated. Still, the rolling and drying of the
leaves were successfully performed; they became more and more crisp,
and preserved their twisted shape, except some few which seemed too
old and coriaceous to submit to be rolled up. The tea was then
placed on a sieve, with wide apertures of regular sizes, and formed
of flat strips of bamboo. The best rolled leaves, produced from the
tips of the buds and the tenderest leaves, passed through this
sieve, and were subsequently fanned, in order to separate any
unrolled fragments which might have passed through them; this
produce was called _Imperial_, or _Uchim Tea_. It was again laid in
the pan till it acquired the leaden grey tint, which proved its
perfect dryness, and any defective leaf which had escaped the
winnowing and sifting was picked out by hand. The residue, which was
left from the first fanning, was submitted to all the operations of
winnowing, sifting, and scorching, and it then afforded the _Fine
Hyson Tea_ of commerce; while the same operations performed on the
residuum of it yielded the _Common Hyson_; and the refuse of the
third quality again afforded the _Coarse Hyson_.--Finally, the
broken and unrolled foliage, which were rejected in the last
sittings, furnish what is called _Family Tea_, and the better kind
of which is called _Chato_, and the inferior _Chuto_. The latter
sort is never sold, but kept for consumption in the families of the
growers.

Such is the mode of preparation pursued at Rio Janeiro, though I
must add that the process employed at the Botanic Garden being most
carefully performed in order to serve as a model for private
cultivators of tea, the produce is superior to the generality, so
that we dare not judge of all Brazilian tea by what is raised at the
garden of Rio. I was also assured, that at Saint Paul each grower
had his own peculiar method, influencing materially the quality of
the tea, which decided me to visit that province, where I hoped to
gain valuable information respecting the culture and fabrication of
tea, especially considered as an