The first tea imported into England was a package of two pounds, by the East India Company, in 1664, as a present to the king; in 1667, another small importation took place, from the company's factory at Bantam. The directors ordered their servants to "send home by their ships 100 pounds weight of the best _tey_ they could get." In 1678 were imported 4,713 lbs.; but in the six following years the entire imports amounted to no more than 410 lbs. According to Milburn's "Oriental Commerce," the consumption in 1711 was 141,995 lbs.; 120,595 lbs. in 1715, and 237,904 lbs. in 1720. In 1745 the amount was 730,729 lbs. For above a century and a half, the sole object of the East India Company's trade with China was to provide tea for the consumption of the United Kingdom. The company had the exclusive trade, and were bound to send orders for tea, and to provide ships to import the same, and always to have a year's consumption in their warehouses. The teas were disposed of in London, where only they could be imported, at quarterly sales. The act of 1834, however, threw open the trade to China. From a Parliamentary return, showing the quantity of tea retained for home consumption in the United Kingdom, in each year, from 1740 to the termination of the East India Company's sales, and thence to the present time, it appears that in 1740, 1,493,695 lbs. of tea were retained for home consumption. Two years afterwards, the quantity fell to 473,868 lbs., and in 1767 only 215,019 lbs. were retained. Next year the amount increased to 3,155,417 lbs.; in 1769 it was 9,114,854 lbs.; in 1795, 21,342,845 lbs.; in 1836, 49,842,236 lbs. The return in question also specifies the quantity of the various kinds of tea, with the average sale prices. According to the annual tea reports of Messrs. W.J. Thompson and Son, and Messrs. W.E. Franks and Son, the total imports of tea during the last fifteen years were as follows, reckoned in millions of lbs.:-- Years. Black. Green. Total. Home Consumption. 1838 26,786 8,215 35,001 36,415 1839 30,644 7,680 38,324 36,351 1840 21,063 7,161 28,224 31,716 1841 24,915 6,303 31,218 36,811 1842 31,915 9,729 41,644 37,554 1843 39,513 7,340 46,853 39,902 1844 39,644 8,749 48,393 41,176 1845 39,518 11,790 51,338 44,127 1846 44,017 12,486 55,503 47,534 1847 46,887 8,368 55,255 46,247 1848 37,512 7,611 45,123 48,431 1849 43,234 9,156 52,400 50,100 1850 39,873 8,427 48,300 51,000 1851 62,369 9,131 71,500 54,000 1852 55,525 9,175 64,700 54,724