cr own readers

A TEA- CARAYAN. 139
36. A TEA-eARAVAN.
1. Tea is an article of which an enormous quantity
is used in th is coun try. Russia probably stands
next to Britain in the quantity of tea used by its
people ; but th e Russians lik e th eir tea much weak er
than we do, and th ey do not let it stand so long to infuse.
2. All our tea formerly came from China, and many
tal es are told of the races between th e tea-clippers,
each trying to be the first to bring its cargo of the
new sea on's tea to the English markets. Now only
one-fourth of our tea comes from China. In Russia,
th e whole of th e seventy or eighty million pounds
that are used every ~'ea r is brought from China ;
and it is said that the best Chin ese tea is neve r
export ed except to Russia. The following account
of a tea-earavan on its way to Russia is given by a
recent traveller in Siberia :-
3. At last my preparations were complete, and I
..turted on th e next stage of my journ ey. Th e road,
for some miles after leaving the town , lay along the
ice in the v er~' centre of the river Yenisei. As it was
a \'eiT bright moonlight nigh t, th e effect was novel
and beautiful ; and th e track being smoot h and level,
th e hors es went along at th eir top speed. I was
gradually lulled into a .deep sleep, find woke to find
th e first stage of twenty-nin e versts accomplished, and
th e sledge in th e post-yard of Botoisknya.
4. The little village was slum bering ; not a light
was to be seen in any of th e wind ows. In th e posthou
e was th e only sign of life. Looking up the
street, which in th e moonlight had a quaint appearance
with its tumble-down cottages, I saw a most