EXPERIENCES IN SUMATRA. 3°5 



very inferior, said to be due largely to the system of labor. The finer 

 grades of coffee come from the private plantations. The coffee business 

 is a monopoly, the government buying the product at a fixed price and 

 then grading it for market. The price received by the government 

 varies all the way from 15 to 60 guilders per picul, the average being 

 about 40. The consul was very proud of the fact that he had sold 

 the highest priced coffee which ever left Padang — 90 guilders the picul, 

 equivalent to about 27 cents of our money per pound. This coffee 

 came to America. 



The warehouses were redolent with the odors of all kinds of spices. 

 Bales of cinnamon bark, piles of mace and nutmegs, bins of pepper 

 and cloves attested the fitness of the early name for these islands. 

 All of the spices must be sorted very carefully and many of them tested. 

 For example, the bales of cinnamon bark contained a large portion 

 that was absolutely worthless, put in knowingly by the natives who 

 gathered it. This worthless bark can not be told by sight and so each 

 piece must be tasted. 



After the instruments had all been packed, and while waiting for 

 the steamer, a short trip was made into the Padang Highlands, where 

 the natives were seen at home in their peculiar horned houses. 



This little-visited corner of the world offers an attractive field for 

 the traveler who cares to go off the beaten paths. When the official 

 calls had all been paid and the time came to say i slamat/ I left the 

 island of Sumatra with many regrets. 



VOL. lxvii. — 20. 



