Part 3

I SHALL now proceed to give an Account of the Country it comes from, with some Observations relating to the Mercantine Part.

THAT curious Gentleman, Robert Balle Esq; furnish’d me with the following Relation, as he had it from a Person that had been upon the Place, and seen it grow: Coffee, says he, is not known to grow naturally in any Part of the World, but only in Arabia Felix, some few Days Journey Inland from Moco, in the Valleys of the Great Mountains, and near the City Saana, about twenty Degrees North-Latitude: The Prince of which, about eighty Years since, beat the Turks in a Battel near that Place, freed himself from their Yoke under which he was before, and made himself Independent as at this Day, permitting great Freedom of Trade to all Nations.

I SHALL here take occasion to remark, wherein lies the Difference between what we call Turkey and India Coffee, and why the latter has not been esteemed so good as that we receive from Turkey.

THE first of these is bought by the Turks Merchants, who go up into the Country where it grows, and there contract for the Fruit of Gardens, or so many Trees as they have occasion for, (as our Fruit-mongers do for Cherries in Kent.) When it is gathered and prepared, as I have already mentioned, they bring it upon Camels down to Juda, a Port at the bottom of the Red-Sea (which is the Port to Grand Cairo) to be transported to Suez; from thence by Land, about seventy Miles, to Grand Cairo, and so down the Nile to Alexandria, where it is ship’d off for Asia or Europe.

THERE commonly comes thus every Year to Egypt, from sixty to seventy thousand Bales of Coffee; which may contain, one with the other, about three hundred weight each.

THE Bashaw of Cairo sets a Price upon it, according to its Abundance or Scarcity, and the People there make use of it as Money in the Market, counting so many Berries to an Asper, in proportion to the Value or Price settled by the Bashaw.

BUT that Sort, which we have under the Character of India Coffee, is bought at Bettelfukere, where the English, Dutch, and French, of late Years, send up Factors to buy the said Commodity, and bring it on Camels to Moco, from whence it is shipped for Europe. By which means (although it is obliged to pass the Line twice) what we now have that way is little inferiour to Turkey; which was formerly the Refuse, or what the Turks left at Bettlefukere.

THE immense Quantity of this Fruit, which is yearly exported from this one Country to other Parts of the World, is almost incredible; which, as we are informed, is computed to be about a Million of Bushels, one Year with another: and although it may seem unreasonable to believe, that this Country alone should produce it in so great abundance, (considering how small a Quantity can be gathered from each single Tree) yet with as much Surprize we may admire how it is possible, that even the Number of Bushels I have mentioned should be sufficient to answer the vast Demand for it; since it is certain, that besides the general Esteem it has gained all over Europe, it is not less requested throughout Africa and Asia, to their utmost Bounds.

HENCE we may reasonably conjecture what vast Riches must be amass’d by these Arabs, seeing they are the Proprietors of this Commodity, and thereby command so great a Part of the Wealth of the most opulent Countries. This part of Arabia Felix is truly (as Mr. Ray observes) φερώυμος, and merits the most happy Name for its Fertility in rich Produce. I admire, continues that Author, how so great a Treasure has remained so long peculiar to one Country, and that neither the Envy nor Avarice of its Neighbours have tempted them to share in this great Advantage! But so prudent are its Masters, that on no account will they suffer either Plant or Seed of it to come alive out of their Dominions; taking great care to destroy the germinative Faculty of those Berries they send abroad, and inflicting the most severe Punishments on such as shall attempt the Transportation of any Plants of it.

BUT notwithstanding this their extraordinary Care and Caution to preserve this Plant peculiar to themselves, the Hollanders, some Years ago, found means to furnish themselves with it, and have made a Plantation of it about Batavia, in the Island of Java, which has already produced some Tuns of Fruit. From this Plantation they have lately brought two Trees to Amsterdam, which, by the Skill of their ingenious Gardiner, flourish and bear Fruit in such Perfection, that several hundred Plants have been raised there from Seeds, ripened at that Place; and which, from time to time, they transmit to Surinam, and such Places in the West-Indies as are in their possession.

THE Heer Gerbrand Pancrass, Commissary of the Garden, and President of the City of Amsterdam, did me the Honour to accommodate me with this great Curiosity, which I sent into England, and intrusted to the care of Mr. Thomas Fairchild, a most accurate Gardiner at Hoxton.

AND since it has now found its way to England, it may be necessary to offer some proper Directions for its Culture, agreeable with the Method observed in the Amsterdam Garden.

WHEN we have an Opportunity to propagate these Trees from the Berries, we must, immediately after they are gathered, carefully take off the outside Husk, and separate the two Seeds which are found in each; and set them an Inch deep in Pots of fine Earth, which are already warm in a Bed prepared with Horse-litter; keeping the Glasses close covered for six Weeks, and often sprinkling them with Water. From this way of Management we may expect them to come up in less than two Months time after Sowing. And then, for their further Improvement, you are only to remark, they love Warmth, little Air, a light sandy Earth, and much Water. And this last Hint answers to an Observation of that Great Naturalist Sir Hans Sloane; where he tells us, that the Arabians cut artificial Channels from the Rivers, on purpose to nourish these Plants. See Philosophical Transactions, Numb. 208. pag. 64.

THESE Rules being well observed, we may expect them to bear Fruit in five Years time from the putting in of the Seed; but in a hotter Clime, such as South-Carolina, or in the Caribbee-Islands, much sooner.

IF the Plague should ever come into England (which God forbid) I recommend to every Person, when they walk out, that they put in their Mouth a little Piece of Myrrh, as an excellent Preservative from receiving any Infection; which I shall treat of more largely in another Work.

FINIS.

* * * * *

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