In spite of a heavy import duty, which was levied at that time by the British Government, the tea-importations of Great Britain and her Colonies increased quite rapidly, fostered by the commercial instincts of the then powerful English East India Company, and by the increasing desire of the British public for the Chinese beverage. British emigrants to the American Colonies brought with them their fondness for the infusion, and today the descendants of these emigrants, not withstanding the fact that an iniquitous tea-tax hastened a separation of the two countries, are as fond of the cup that cheers but not inebriates as were their forefathers.