Tea Advisor
Aspects of Tea Production
Bruce and his men also sought to find patches of indigenous tea in the jungle. This was not an easy job. The wars fought across Assam had caused the richly cultivated valley to revert to nature - "six-eighths or seven-eighths of its extent covered with a jungle of gigantic reeds, traversed only by the wild elephant or the buffalo, where human footstep is unknown."
The Assam forests received between 100 inches and 200 inches of rain a year (London, considered wet by many, receives about twenty-five inches) making for numerous streams and swamps. Trees grew tall and close, often with heavy undergrowth. On foot, it was difficult to see any distance. In addition, the jungle was full of dangerous animals, especially tigers. (In those days, in India, tigers were killing as many as 2,000 people a year.) For these conditions the ideal vehicle was an elephant - slow, but safe, and giving an excellent view over the terrain. Bruce bought four elephants at £15 apiece. In Assam conditions, an elephant needed very little food, if any, but Bruce indulged his animals with a yearly allowance of £5 for rice.
Once a patch of "wild" tea had been spotted, negotiations had to be opened with the local chief. Sometimes these chiefs were cooperative, seeing possibilities for development and employment sometimes they resented any interference from outside and had to be bribed. Bruce was a very skillful negotiator. He would sit cross-legged with the chiefs, smoke their pipes, and beguile them with sweet words. Very small sums of money often smoothed the way, but more often the chiefs were bribed with opium.
Tea | By Roy Moxham
Back To Top ‹ Previous Article | Next Article ›
