ddish tinge; the terms
_prince's eyebrows_, _carnation hair_, _lotus kernel_, _sparrow's
tongue_, _fir-leaf pattern_, _dragon's pellet_, and _dragon's
whiskers_, are all translations of the native names of different
kinds of Souchong or Pecco. _Souchong_, or _siau chung_, means
_little plant_ or sort, as _Pouchong_, or _folded sort_, refers to
the mode of packing it; _Campoi_ is corrupted from _kan pei_ i.e.
carefully fired; _Chulan_ is the tea scented with the chulan flower,
and applied to some kinds of scented green tea. The names of green
teas are less numerous: _Gunpowder_, or _ma chu_, i.e. hemp pearl,
derives its name from the form into which the leaves are rolled; _ta
chu_ or 'great pearl,' and _chu lan_, or 'pearl flower,' denote two
kinds of _Imperial_; _Hyson_, or _yu tsien_, i.e. before the rains,
originally denoted the tenderest leaves of the plant, and is now
applied to _Young Hyson_; as is also another name, _mei pein_, or
'plum petals;' while _hi chun_, 'flourishing spring,' describes
_Hyson_; _Twankay_ is the name of a stream in Chehkiang, where this
sort is produced; and _Hyson skin_, or _pi cha_, i.e. skin tea, is
the poorest kind, the siftings of the other varieties; _Oolung_,
'black dragon,' is a kind of black tea with green flavor. Ankoi teas
are produced in the district of Nganki, not far from Tsiuenchau fu,
possessing a peculiar taste, supposed to be owing to the ferruginous
nature of the soil. De Guignes speaks of the Pu-'rh tea, from the
place in Kiangsu where it grows, and says it is cured from wild
plants found there; the infusion is unpleasant, and is used for
medical purposes. The Mongols and others in the west of China
prepare tea by pressing it, when fresh, into cakes like bricks, and
thoroughly drying it in that shape to carry in their wanderings.

"Considering the enormous labor of preparing tea, it is surprising
that even the poorest kind can be afforded to the foreign purchaser
at Canton, more than a thousand miles from the place of its growth,
for 9d. and less a pound; and in their ability to furnish it at this
rate, the Chinese have a security of retaining the trade in their
hands, notwithstanding the efforts to grow the plant elsewhere.
Comparatively little adulteration is practised, if the amount used
at home and abroad be considered, though the