I now bid adieu to the famous Woo-e-shan, certainly the most
wonderful collection of hills I ever behold."

He says further that some geologist who will visit the scene, may
"give us some idea how these strange hills were formed, and at
what period of the world's existence they assumed the strange
shapes which are now presented to the traveller's wondering
gaze."



CHAPTER V.

Tea Picking And Yield.

Chinese tea grown among the mountains and hillsides was in Mr.
Fortune's time distinguished as "Hill tea," while both large and
diminutive plantations on the lowlands or the plains were all
called "tea gardens," a term which is now applied by the
English to the extensive plantations of Ceylon and India.

Some of the largest tea plantations in China turned out, say, 500
chests, or 30,000 pounds, of tea per annum, at the same period.

In both China and the East Indies a common custom prevails of
planting tea bushes about four feet apart, each way, and they are
pruned down to a height varying from three to six feet, to bring
the topmost leaves within reach of the picker. In both named
countries, a first crop of tea leaves may be gathered from the