OCR Text |
Show History of Tea. The earliest record of tea being mentioned by an Englishman was probably that contained in a letter from Mr. Wickham, an agent of the East India company, written from Fir-ando, Fir-ando, in Japan, on June 27, 1615, to another officer of the company, resident resi-dent at Macao, in the south of China, asking him for "a pot of the best sort of chaw." It was not until the middle of that century that the English began to use tea. They received their supplies sup-plies from Java until 1686, when they were driven out by the Dutch, says the Bulletin of the Imperial Institute. At first the price in England ranged from 6 to 10 per pound. In the Mercurius Politicus of September, 1658, occurs an advertisement of the "China drink called by the Chineans Tcha, by other nations Tay, alias Tee," being sold in London. Thomas Gar-way, Gar-way, the first English tea dealer, in 1659 or 1660, offered it at prices varying vary-ing from 15s to 50s per pound. Not until 1677 is there a record of the East India company having taken any steps for its importation. |