1 8 Coffee Planting. 



cultivation in the East Indies. The reference here, 

 no doubt, is to the Islands of Java, Sumatra, &c., 

 which at one time all came under that denomi- 

 nation. 



A gentleman residing in the Neilgherries in- 

 formed me of the existence of what he believed 

 to be an indigenous or at least a wild species of 

 coffee, in the forests clothing those mountains, 

 and which, he said, was well known to the Todars 

 or aboriginal inhabitants. I must, however, doubt 

 the correctness of my friend's impression, the 

 probable origin of which is the growth of wild 

 coffee plants in the woods, from seeds let fall by 

 birds, squirrels, monkeys and other pillagers of 

 the coffee plantations. It is quite common to 

 find the forests in the neighbourhood of coffee 

 estates in Ceylon, largely stocked with plants in 

 the same manner. 



Dr. Shortt in his work tells us, that coffee was 

 introduced into Ceylon by the Arabs, prior to the 

 invasion of that island by the Portuguese, and 

 that the Dutch, after introducing it into Java in 

 1690, began its culture in Ceylon. He adds, that 

 on the cession of the latter island by the Dutch, 

 the cultivation was taken up by the Cingalese, and 

 that during the British occupation of Ceylon the 

 article was freely bartered by the Mahommedan 

 traders at Galle and Colombo. The natives of Ceylon 



