COFFEE PLANTATIONS. 181 



in Java the zone of the coffee-plantations extends between 

 3,000 and 4,000 feet above the level of the sea ; and the primi- 

 tive forest is constantly receding before them. Frequently, on 

 felling the woods, a part of the original trees is left standing to 

 shade the tender coffee-plants ; but oftener the rows are made 

 to alternate with those of the sheltering dadab. Thus a new 

 and luxuriant grove replaces the old thicket of nature's plant- 

 ing. Straight paths, kept carefully clean, lead through the 

 dense, dark green shrubbery, under w^hose thick cover the wild 

 cock hastily retreats when surprised by the wanderer. When 

 the trees are in flower, the branches seem to bend under a 

 weight of snow, from the number of dazzling white blossoms, 

 which form a pleasing contrast to the dark and lustrous foliage, 

 while high above, the dadabs extend their airy crowns, whose 

 light green leaves are agreeably interspersed with flowers of a 

 brilliant red. A few months later, when the fruits are ripening 

 into carmine a scene of the most bustling animation en sues, for old 

 and young are busily employed in plucking the swelling berries, 

 and hurrying with filled baskets to the nearest pulping mill. 



In Ceylon the native woodmen are singularly expert in 

 felling forest trees preparatory to the cultivation of coffee. 

 Turning to advantage the luxuriance of tropical vegetation, 

 which lashes together whole forests by a maze of interlacing 

 climbers as firm and massy as the cables of a line-of-battle 

 ship, their practice in steep and mountainous places is to cut 

 half-way through each stem in succession, till an area of some 

 acres in extent is prepared for the final overthrow. They then 

 sever some tall group on the eminence, and allow it in its 

 decent to precipitate itself on those below, when the whole 

 expanse is in one moment brought headlong to the ground, the 

 falling timber forcing down those beneath it by its weight, and 

 dragging those behind to which it is harnessed. The crash 

 occasioned by this startling operation is so loud that it is 

 audible for two or three miles in the clear and still atmosphere 

 of the hills. 



Like the sugar-cane, or indeed any other plant cultivated 

 by man, the coffee-tree is exposed to the ravages of many 

 enemies. Wild cats, monkeys, and squirrels prey upon the 

 ripening berries, and hosts of caterpillars feed upon the leaves. 

 Since 1847 the Ceylon plantations have been several times 



