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from Calcutta or Assam, are, in my opinion, far from being first- rate workmen; indeed, I doubt much if any of them learned their trade in China. They ought to be gradually got rid of, and their places supplied by better men, for it is a great pity to teach the natives an inferior method of manipulation. The men brought round by me are first-rate green tea makers; they can also make black tea, but they have not been in the habit of making so much black as green. They have none of the Canton illiberality or pre- judices about them, and are most willing to teach their art to the natives. I have no doubt some of the latter will soon be made excellent tea-manufacturers. And the instruction of the natives is, no doubt, one of the chief objects which ought to be kept in view, for the importation of Chinese manipulators at high wages can only be regarded as a temporary measure; ultimately, the Himalayan tea must be made by the natives themselves; each native farmer must learn how to make tea as well as how to grow it; he will then make it upon his own premises, as the Chinese do, and the expenses of carriage will be much less than if the green leaves had to be taken to the market.
But as the zemindars will be able to grow tea long before they are able to make it, it would be prudent in the first instance to offer them a certain sum for green leaves brought to the Government manufactory.
I have pointed out the land most suitable for the cultivation of tea, and shown that such land exists in the Himalayas to an almost unlimited extent. But if the object the Government have in view be the establishment of a company to develop the resources of these hills as in Assam, I would strongly urge the propriety of con- centrating, as much as possible, the various plantations. Sites ought to be chosen which are not too far apart, easy of access, and if possible near rivers; for, no doubt, a considerable portion of the produce would have to be conveyed to the plains or to a sea-port.
Ju my tour amongst the hills, I have seen no place so well adapted for a central situation as Almorah or Hawulbaugh. Here the Government has already a large establishment, and tea lands are abundant in all directions. The climate is healthy, and better suited to a European constitution than most other parts of India. Here plants from nearly all the temperate parts of the world are growing as if they were at home. As examples, I may mention myrtles, pomegranates, and tuberoses from the south of Europe; dahlias, potatoes, aloes, and yuccas from America; melianthus major and bulbs from the Cape; the cypress and deodar of the Himalayas; and the lagerstræmias, loquats, roses and tea of China.
In these days, when tea has become almost a necessary of life to Eugland and her wide-spreading colonies, its production upon a
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large and cheap scale is an object of no ordinary importance. But to the natives of India themselves, the production of this article would be of the greatest value. The poor paharie, or hill farmer, at present, has scarcely the common necessaries of life, and certainly none of its luxuries. The common sorts of grain which his lands produce will scarcely pay the carriage to the nearest market-town, far less yield a profit of such a kind as will enable him to purchase some few of the necessary and simple luxuries of life. A common blanket has to serve him for his covering by day and for his bed at night, while his dwelling-house is a mere mud-hut capable of afford- ing but little shelter from the inclemency of the weather. Were part of these lands producing tea he would then have a healthy beverage to drink, besides a commodity which would be of great value in the market. Being of small bulk compared with its value, the expense of carriage would be trifling, and he would return home with the means in his pocket of making himself and his family more comfortable and more happy.
Were such results doubtful, we have only to look across the frontiers of India into China. Here we find tea one of the nece saries of life in the strictest sense of the word.
A Chinese never
drinks cold water, which he abhors, and considers unhealthy.
Tea
is his favourite 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 sec 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.
ROBERT FORTUNE.
PRINTED AT THE FOREIGN OFFICE,
DECEMBER 18, 1851.
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