The authorities are, we understand, making great preparetionsto receive the expected visit of the Russian Crown Prince.
Recent. information received about the picking of the new leaf, from the various tea districts, is truly lamentable; in fact, it is so bad that one is almost inclined to believe that no new teas can be expected in the market. We know that natives have the unenviable reputation of being capable of spreading false news. But, after allowing a hundred per cent, of what we have been informed to be false, there yet remains a very gloomy prospect for the native tea hongs here and for the growers in the country. OF the former, we understand that only two hongs out of ten have made some very small advances to those tea men of good standing, and these under conditions, that the costs all not exceed those ruling last season, This no doubt is a wise step, as it will prevent the usual competition in the hills, which may be fairly assumed to have been the chief.cause why teas were laid down in this market at such high costs every year, Itis also further stated that a well known and wealthy tea hong has refused in toto to grant any advances: uor does this hong care to have anything to do with tea at all during the approaching season, This action has disappointed many tea men, who are now entirely without hope of obtaining any advances. From the country we learn that owing to the establishment of a low scale of wages, much difficulty has been created in obtaining labourers and we understand that many of these have left the tes districts in search of other work. In fact the whole business is in ao unsatisfactory a state that the amount of treasure which has been sent up country does not exceed five hundred thousand doll (merely a drop in an ocean), That this will curtail to a great extent the gathering of at least the first crop leaf, cannot be doubted.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.