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100
Annual Register

tions it appears, that the degree of cold about Pekin is as severe in winter, as in some of the northern parts of Europe.
At the proper seasons for gathering the tea-leaves, labourers are hired, who are very quick in plucking them, being accustomed to follow this employment as a means of their livelihood. They do not pluck them by handfuls, but carefully one by one; and tedious as this may appear, they are able to collect from four to ten or fifteen pounds each in one day. The different periods in which the leaves are usually gathered, are particularly described by Kaempfer.
The tea-tree frequently grows on the steep declivities of hills and precipices, here it is commonly dangerous, sometimes impracticable, to collect the leaves, which are often the finest tea. The Chinese in some places surmount this difficulty by a singular contrivance. These cliffs are inhabited by a large kind of monkeys; these the tea-gatherers irritate by some means; in revenge the monkeys break off the branches of the tea-tree, and throw them down in resentment; the branches are gathered up, and the tea-leaves picked off. This method of coming at the tea in such places was pointed out to me upon some curious Chinese drawings, representing the whole process of gathering and curing tea; and I have since been informed by a very inquisitive sensible commander, who has been long in the company's service, and frequently at China, that this circumstance is a well-known fact.
Public buildings or drying houses are erected for curing tea, and so regulated, that every person, who either has not suitable conveniences, or wants the requisite skill, may bring his leaves at any time to be dried. These buildings contain from five to ten or twenty small furnaces, about three feet high, each having at the top a large flat iron pan, either square or round, bent up a little on that side which is over the mouth of the furnace, which at once secures the operator from the heat of the furnace, and prevents the leaves form falling off. 
There is also a long low table covered with mats, on which the leaves are laid, and rolled by workmen, who fit round it. The iron pan being heated to a certain degree by a little fire made in the furnace underneath, a few pounds of the fresh gathered leaves are put upon the pan; the fresh and juicy leaves crack when they touch the pan, and it is the business of the operator to shift them as quick as possible with his bare hands, till they grow too hot to be easily endured. At this instant he takes of the leaves, with a kind of shovel, resembling a fan, and pours them on the mats to the rollers, who taking small quantities at a time, roll them in the palms of their hands in one directions, while others are fanning them, that they may cool the more speedily, and retain their curl the longer.
This process is repeated two or three times, or oftener, before the tea is put in the stores, in order that all the moisture of the leaves may be thoroughly dissipated, and their curl more completely preserved. On every repetition the pan is less heated, and the operation performed more slowly and cautiously.

101

For the Year 1772.

cautiously. The tea is then separated into the different kinds, and deposited in the store for domestic use or exportation.
Neither the Chinese, nor natives of Japan, ever use tea before it has been kept at least a year; because when fresh it is said to prove narcotic, and disorder the senses. The former pour hot water on the tea, and draw off the infusion in the same manner, as is now introduced from them in Europe: but they drink it simply without the addition of sugar or milk. The Japanese reduce the tea into a fine powder, by grinding the leaves in a hand-mill, and mix them with hot water into a thin pulp, in which form it is sipped, particularly by the nobility and rich people. It is made and served up to company in the following manner: the tea-table furniture, with the powdered tea enclosed in a box, are set before the company, and the cups are then filled with hot water, and as much of the powder as might lie on the point of a moderate sized knife, is taken out of the box, put into each cup, and then stirred and mixed together with a a curious denticulated instrument till the liquor foams, in which state it is presented to the company, and sipped while warm. From what Du Halde relates, this method is not peculiar to the Japanese, but is also used in some provinces of China.
The common people, who have a coarser tea, boil it for some time in water, and make use of the liquor for common drink. Early in the morning the kettle filled with water, is regularly hung over the fire for this purpose, and the tea is either put into the kettle enclosed in a bag, or by means of a basket of a proper size, pressed to the bottom of the vessel, that there may not be any hindrance in drawing off the water. The Bantsjaa tea only is used in this manner, whose virtues, being more fixed, would not be so fully extracted by infusion.
And indeed tea is the common beverage of all the labouring people of China. One scarcely ever sees them represented at work of any kind, but the tea-pot and tea-cup are either bringing to them, or set by them on the ground. Reapers, shredders, and all who work out of doors, as well as within, have this attendant.
To make tea, and to serve it in a genteel and graceful manner, is an accomplishment in which people of both sexes in Japan are instructed by masters in the same manner as Europeans are in dancing, and other branches of a genteel education.
The long and constant use of tea, as part of our diet, makes us forget to inquire whether it is possessed of any medicinal properties. We shall endeavour to consider it in both respects.
The generality of healthy persons find themselves not apparently affected by the use of tea. It seems to them a grateful refreshment, both fitting them for labour and refreshing them after it. There are instances of persons who have drank it from their infancy to old age; have led, at the same time, active, if not laborious lives; and who never perceived from the constant use of it any ill effect, nor had any complaint which they could ascribe to the effects of this liquor.
Where

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