BRICK TEA, Tung-k'au, Cunt, is tea com pressed into a solid form. This article, and the khata, or 'scarf of felicity,' are great articles of trade between China and Tibet, A prodigious quantity of these goods is exported annually from the provinces of Kan-su and Sech-u'en. In Ya-tcheon or Ya-tzon, the last large town of Western China, brick tea gives occupation to thousands of workmen Either in its manufacture or transport to Ta-tsien-lu. This tea can only be made with a particular leaf. The tree which furnishes it grows on the banks of the river Yaho. It attains often 15 feet in height, and the leaves are large and rough to the touch. The cultivation requires little care. It is planted often on the borders of fields, or round the houses. Each grower gathers his little harvest of leaves, and finds a ready sale for them in the market of the town. The manufacture of brick tea is a mono poly secured to the dealers of this town, and for which they pay a considerable stun to the Chinese Government. For the first quality tea, the leaves are gathered in June and July, before the spring rains commence. The leaves at this period of the year are about an inch in length. As soon as detached, they are spread in the sun, and, when slightly dried or withered, they are rolled with the hand until they become humid by the exuda tion of the sap. They are then made into balls about the size of a large teacup, and left to ferment. When they are in fermentation, they are placed between wooden moulds or lever presses secured by pegs or bolts. These moulds are then placed over a wood fire. The tea is taken out in a compact mass, and forms the brick tea of com merce. They are then delivered to the merchants of the town, by whom they are wrapped in yellow paper, on which is impressed the stamp of the Government and the mark of the dealer who ex ports it. They are then packed in baskets of plaited bamboo, about four feet long. One of
these baskets, weighing about twenty pounds, is the unit of trade. The baskets are carried on men's backs to Ta-tsien•lu, a distance of two hundred miles. There they arc carefully wrapped in fresh hides, to prevent the tea from imbibing moisture. They are then fit to be sent to Lassa, or even beyond. A basket costs about twelve taels, that is, at the rate of 4s. 8d. the English pound. A second kind is made with older and yellow leaves. The mode of preparing is the same. It is sent chiefly to Lithang and 13athang. At the latter place it sells for about five taels the basket, or at the rate of le. 6d. the pound. A third quality is made with the waste and tle'bris of the leaves. The bricks of this quality resemble those sometimes made with the young shoots of the tea tree cut up. The manu facture differs from the two other sorts, inasmuch as it is necessary to add rice water to combine the substance and to make it retain the form of the mould. This quality is only sold at Ta-taien•Itt and its neighbourhood, and fetches 9d. per pound. The quantity of brick tea exported annually from Ya-tcheon to Tibet is roughly estimated at six million pounds. The high price of tea in the markets of Tibet arises from the monopoly of the Chinese, which is increased by that of the Lamas, who keep in their hands the retail sale. And as tea is an article of prime necessity in Tibet, the Celestial Empire keeps in dependence the Lamas, and by them the people of Tibet. Brick tea is cooked in a varied manner. Mr. Atkinson (Orient. West. Siberia, p. 477) was given it mixed with milk, butter, salt, and flour, presenting the appearance of thick soup. The form of bricks was doubtless given to it for the convenience of carriage.—Mr. Cooper in Statesman; Hue, Chinese Empire.