CELEBES COFFEES. 147 



general contour. It is invariably " quakery " in the 

 roast, flat in liquor, insipid in flavor, or more correctly, 

 almost devoid of " cup " qualities. 



Sumatra coffees, in general, possess a peculiarly char- 

 acteristic flavor in the raw or natural state, described by 

 some dealers as <( musty," but claimed to be acquired in 

 transit through the tropics, the coffee sweating in the 

 hold of the vessel during the long voyage. Certain it is, 

 however, that this mustiness, or whatever it may be 

 termed, enhances rather than detracts from the value or 

 flavor of the coffee. And, more singular to add, Sumatra 

 forms nine-tenths of the coffee imported and sold in the 

 United States under the head of Java, being preferred to 

 the latter by the American dealers in general, on account 

 of its usually dark-brown color and distinctive " musty " 

 flavor. The annual product, like that of all other 

 countries, varies materially from various and obvious 

 causes, both in quantity and quality, the average annual 

 export being about 20,000,000 pounds, of which the 

 United States takes upwards of 75 per cent., the product 

 of " Free " or private plantation coffee forming about 

 one-fifth of the annual yield. It is packed in grass mats, 

 and shipped from the port of Padang, when purchased 

 for account in the United States, and from Benkoolen, 

 in the north, when intended for the European market. 



Are grown in the Dutch island of that name, situated 

 to the northeast of Java, the coffee plant being intro- 

 duced there from Java as far back as 1750, but except 

 where Dutch influence was felt little or no attention was 

 paid to it by the native races until about 1822, when it 

 was discovered by the Dutch rulers that the soil of the 

 mountain sides was admirably adapted to the cultivation 



