"'Certainly,' replied the planter, who had been in the United States, and spent several years there. 'There is a large area of the United States where tea could be raised, and the government some years ago spent considerable money on an experiment in tea-culture. It was found that there was no difficulty in raising the plants; but when it came to manipulating the product the high price of labor made it unprofitable. When we can furnish labor for the same price that it can be had in China, Japan, Java, and India, we can compete with those countries in growing tea, but until that time we had better let the business alone.'"
ROASTING-BASKET.
[CHAPTER XXXI.]
EASTERN JAVA, LOMBOCK, TIMOR, AND THE ARU ISLANDS.
Greatly pleased with their visit to the tea and coffee plantations, our friends returned to Bandong. On the way back they had an accident that for a few moments was quite exciting, and threatened serious results. While descending a long hill the brake of the carriage gave way, and the horses started on a full gallop; they were quite out of the control of the driver, and the two footmen were left a long way behind. The driver managed to turn his team into a side road at the risk of an overturn, and gave them a little practice in running up hill instead of down. Gradually they reduced their pace, and some workmen in a field close at hand came to his assistance, and held the horses till the grooms could come up. One of the springs of the carriage was broken, in the severe shaking they had received, but otherwise the vehicle was not much injured.
It was necessary to stop a day at Bandong to have the carriage repaired, and the delay enabled the boys to learn something more about the country.