Chap. VI.] 



THE COFFEE TREE. 



227 



Ceylon ; but tlie preparation of a beverage from its 

 berries was totally unknown to the Singhalese ^, who 

 only employed its tender leaves for their curries, and 

 its dehcate jasmine-hke flowers for ornamenting, their 

 temples and shrines. 



The Dutch carried the coffee tree to Batavia in 1690 ^, 

 and about the same time they began its cidtivation in 

 Ceylon. But as their operations were confined to the 

 low lands around Negombo and Galle, the locality 

 proved unsuitable, both in temperature and soil. The 

 natives, too, were unfavourably disposed to the innova- 

 tion ; and although the quahty of the coffee is said to 

 have been excellent ^, it was found that it coidd not be 

 raised to advantage in comparison with that of Java, 

 where the experiment proved eminently successful. At 

 length, in 1739, the effort was suspended ^ ; but the 

 culture, although neglected by the government, was not 

 abandoned by the Singhalese, who, having learned the 

 commercial value of the article, continued to grow it in 

 small quantities, and after the British obtained possession 

 of Ceylon, the Moors, who collected it in the villages, 

 brought it into Colombo and Galle, to be bartered for 

 cutlery, cotton, and trinkets.^ 



On the occupation of Kandy, after its cession in 1815, 

 the Enghsh found the coffee tree growing in the vicinity 

 of the temples ; and gardens had been formed of it by 



* Chbistian "VVolf, Life and Ad- 

 ventures, p. 117. 



^ Crawfurd, in his Dictionary of 

 the Indian Inland, s.ays, a single 

 plant of coffee gi-o-mi in a garden at 

 Batavia, about a.d. 1G90, was sent 

 by the Governor-General to Holland, 

 as a present to the Governor of the 

 Dutch East India Company. It was 

 planted in the Botanic Gardens at 

 Amsterdam, where it flourished, bore 

 fruit, and the fruit produced yomig- 

 pliints. Some of the latter were sent 

 to the Colony of Surinam, where 

 coffee began to be cultivated as aia 

 article of trade, a.d. 1718, and from 



thence the first coffee plants were 

 taken to the Eng'lish and French 

 West India Islands. From Java the 

 cidtivation of coff'ee has been extend- 

 ed to Sumatra, Celebes, Bali, and 

 several of the Philippine Islands. 



3 See 3Iemoir, by M. Bijrnand, 

 Asiatic Journal, vol. xii. p. 444. 



* ITemoir of Goveraor Schreu- 

 DER, Appendix to Lee's Riheijro, p. 

 193. 



* Bertolacci gives the export of 

 coffee from Cevlon, in 



180G, 189 i candies, about 94,500 lbs. 

 1810, 435' „ 217,500 lbs. 



1813, 432^^ ^, 216,500 lbs. 



Q 2 



