, and practice it toward friends and
strangers alike.

The treaty of 1860, which opened Chinese ports to Russian ships, was a
severe blow to Kiachta and Maimaichin. Up to that time only a single
cargo of tea was carried annually into Russia by water; all the rest
of the herb used in the empire came by land. Unfortunately the treaty
was made just after the Russian and Chinese merchants had concluded
contracts in the tea districts; these contracts caused great losses
when the treaty went into effect, and for a time paralized commerce.
Kiachta still retains the tea trade of Siberia and sends large
consignments to Nijne Novgorod and Moscow. There is now a good
percentage of profit, but the competition by way of Canton and the
Baltic has destroyed the best of it. Under the old monopoly the
merchants arranged high prices and did not oppose each other with
quick and low sales.

The Kiachta teas are far superior to those from Canton and Shanghae.
They come from the best districts of China and are picked and cured
with great care. There is a popular notion, which the Russians
encourage, that a sea voyage injures tea, and this is cited as the
reason for the character of the herb brought to England and America. I
think the notion incorrect, and believe that we get no first class
teas in America because none are sent there. I bought a small package
of the best tea at Kiachta and brought it to New York. When I opened
it I could not perceive it had changed at all in flavor. I have not
been able to find its like in American tea stores.

Previous to 1850 all trade at Kiachta was in barter, tea being
exchanged for Russian goods. The Russian government prohibited the
export of gold and silver money, and various subterfuges were adopted
to evade the law. Candlesticks, knives, idols, and other articles were
made of pure gold and sold by weight. Of course the goods were "of
Russian manufacture."

Before 1860 the importation of tea at Kiachta was about one million
chests annually, and all of good quality and not including brick tea.
The "brick tea" of Mongolia and Northern China is made from stalks,
large leaves, and refuse matter generally. This is moistened with
sheep's or bullock's blood and pressed into brick-shaped cakes. When
dried it is ready for transportation, and largely used by the Mongols,
Bouriats, Tartars, and the Siberian peasantry. In some parts of
Chinese Tartary it is the principal circulating medium of the people.
La