A History of Assam c24.5

c24.5

It has sometimes been said that Lieutenant Charlton, and not Mr. Bruce, is entitled to the honour of the discovery of tea in Assam, and in his *Memorandum on Tea Cultivation* written in 1873, the late Sir John Edgar referred to their rival claims as an open question. Lieutenant Charlton, however, did not go to Assam until after the first specimens of the indigenous plant had been sent to Calcutta. The most that he can lay claim to is the final proof that the plant found in Assam is identical with that cultivated in China, but this also is doubtful. Next to Mr. C. A. Bruce, Captain Jenkins seems to have the strongest claim, and he was presented with a gold medal in recognition of his services in this matter by the Agricultural Society of Calcutta.