DRINKS.
243
tea.
There
Is
also
what
is
called
brick
tea,
which
is
consumed
in
the
North
of
China,
Tartary,
and
Thibet,
but
which
we
never
see
in
England.
This
choice
tea
is
made
from
the
stalks
and
refuse
a-nd
decayed
twigs,
mixed
with
the
serum
of
sheep
and
ox
blood,
which,
when
it
is
pressed
into
moulds,
hardens
it.
The
Russians
are
said
to
get
the
finest
tea
that
comes
out
of
China
—
called
Caravan
Tea
—
which
is
made
into
large
bales,
covered
with
lead.
This
goes
to
Russia
entirely
overland,
and
to
this fact
some
at-
tribute
its
superior
and
delicate
flavour.
The
tea
trade
of
China
is
rapidly
going
from
her,
and
she has but
herself,
and
the
shortsighted
knavery
of
her
growers
and
manufacturers,
to
thank
for
it.
According
to
a
Tea
Circular,^
the
following
are
the
imports
and
deliveries
of
China
tea
from
ist
to
30th
June
:
1888.
1889.
1890.
6,697,000
lbs.
508,000
lbs.
452,000
lbs.
a
truly
fearful
falling
off.
English
people
got
tired
of
the
flavourless
stuff
sent
from
China,
and
India
and
Ceylon
having
perfected
the
manufacture
(which
at
first
start
of
the
industry
of
tea
growing
in
those
parts
was
not
good),
send
us
delicious
tea,
of
a
much
higher
market
value
than
that
of
China.
Ceylon
tea,
especially,
has
enormously
won
the
favour
of
the
English
tea-drinking
community
in
a
^
Messrs.
William,
James
&
Henry
Thompson,
38,
Mincing
Lane,
London.