 Hirado in Japan to be shipped to Europe.[31] Tea became a fashionable drink in The Hague in the Netherlands, and the Dutch introduced the drink to Germany, France, and across the Atlantic to New Amsterdam (New York).[32]In 1567, Russian people came in contact with tea when the Cossack Atamans Petrov and Yalyshev visited China.[33] The Mongolian Khan donated to Tsar Michael I four poods (65–70 kg) of tea in 1638.[34] According to Jeremiah Curtin,[35] it was possibly in 1636[36] that Vassili Starkov was sent as envoy to the Altyn Khan. He was given 250 pounds of tea as a gift to the tsar. Starkov at first refused, seeing no use for a load of dead leaves, but the Khan insisted. Thus was tea introduced to Russia. In 1679, Russia concluded a treaty on regular tea supplies from China via camel caravan in exchange for furs. It is today considered the de facto national beverage.The Raymond, Hugh Mckay Commander. The first vessel direct from China to Hull on her arrival on 14 October 1843 w