There is very great choice in the teas; connoisseurs being much more particular in their taste than even the most fastidious wine-drinkers.  Purchasers inquire the position of the gardens from which the samples were taken; teas from the summit of a hill, from the middle, and from the base bearing different values.  Some of the individual shrubs are greatly prized; one being called the “egg-plant,” growing in a deep gully between two hills, and nourished by water which trickles from the precipice.  Another is appropriated exclusively to the imperial use, and an officer is appointed every year to superintend the gathering and curing.  The produce of such plants is never sent to Canton, being reserved entirely for the emperor and the grandees of the court, and commanding enormous prices; the most valuable being said to be worth one hundred and fifty dollars a pound, and the cheapest not less than twenty-five dollars.  There is said to be a very fine kind called “monkey tea,” from the fact that it grows upon heights inaccessible to man, and that monkeys are therefore trained to pick it.  For the truth of this story I cannot vouch, and of course ask no one to believe it.

The picking of the leaf is frequently performed by a different class of laborers from those who cultivate it; but the customs vary in different places.  There are four pickings in the course of the year,—­the last one, however, being considered a mere gleaning.  The first is made as early as the 15th of April, and sometimes sooner, when the delicate buds appear and the foliage is just opening, being covered with a whitish down.  From this picking the finest kinds of tea are made, although the quantity is small.  The next gathering is technically called “second spring,” and takes place in the early part of June, when the branches are well covered, producing the greatest quantity of leaves.  The third gathering, or “third spring,” follows in about one month, when the branches are again searched, the most common kinds of tea being the result.  The fourth gleaning is styled the “autumn dew”; but this is not universally observed, as the leaves are now old and of very inferior quality.  These poorest sorts are sometimes clipped off with shears; but the general mode of gathering is by hand, the leaves being laid lightly on bamboo trays.

The curing of the leaf is of the utmost importance,—­some kinds of tea depending almost entirely for their value on the mode of preparation.  When the leaves are brought to the curing-houses, they are thinly spread upon bamboo trays, and placed in the wind to dry until they become somewhat soft; then, while lying on the trays, they are gently rubbed and rolled many times.  From the labor attending this process the tea is called kung foocha, or “worked tea”; hence the English name of Congou.  When the leaves have been sufficiently worked they are ready for the firing, an operation requiring the exercise of the greatest care.  The iron pan used in the process is made