Under the leadership of the Chinese experts, local labourers were employed. Charles had to deal with a host of problems, of which labour was the biggest. A huge workforce was needed to clear the forests for digging, planting, weeding and plucking. The locals were unwilling to work as labourers; they found the work difficult. However, after a ban was imposed on gold washing, a large section of unemployed Kacharis were compelled to work in the tea gardens. Other tribes, including the Nagas, joined as well.

With the help of the Chinese tea makers, Charles was training several locals, but with the number of tea gardens increasing rapidly, there was a growing demand for more labour. The Company, meanwhile, was trying to recruit Chinese coolies, tea makers and skilled workers. In 1839, fifteen Chinese men from Calcutta were sent to work in the gardens. This was followed by more men from the Chinese neighbourhoods of Calcutta. The tea committee had also made arrangements to recruit Chinese labourers from Malaya, Singapore and Penang, as well as from the infamous coolie depots of Macao.

The Chinese did not know any other language and so the Company employed Lum Kwa, an expert in Chinese medicine from Calcutta, as an interpreter. When Lum Kwa arrived in June 1840, he brought eighteen Chinese workers with him.

Lum Kwa was not in Assam now. He had returned to Calcutta to receive more Chinese coolies who were supposed to arrive from outside India.

It was almost noon. Four Chinese men were eating rice with chopsticks and drinking tea under a shack. The locals stared at them. The deft movement of their chopsticks and the quick manoeuvring of the rice from their bowls to their mouths held people spellbound. Charles was eating porridge and fruits, and sipping hot tea under the shade of a tree. Soon he would leave for Keheng, with the two Chinese tea makers, while the tea experts would stay on in Naoholia. Tea factories had been constructed in Keheng and Tingrai, where the tea makers produced tea using leaves collected from different gardens. But because of the distance, the tea leaves tended to rot. Charles was sure he would be able to sort out this problem as soon as more tea makers were brought in and the local men properly trained.

By the time Charles and the tea makers reached Keheng, the labourers had got everything ready. The large clay ovens were already fired up. In the leaf house, the labourers were clapping continuously, with the raw leaves in their hands. The house was full of the rhythmic sound of clapping.

The workers were constantly being instructed by the tea makers on the correct procedure. Charles started noting everything down; he was preparing a report on tea production. After going through the whole process, the leaves finally became dark and dry and bitter to taste. Charles followed the experts to the drying sheds.

In another shed, the tea was being packed in crates. The labourers first pressed the leaves with their hands. Then, with socks on, they stuffed the tea in the crates with their feet.