COFFEE. 389 



the powder with grease or butter to give it consistency. A 

 small quantity of this preparation was sufficient to support 

 them during a march of several days. In Upper Egypt this 

 practice is still common. Reynier often saw the soldiers 

 prefer this mixture to their rations when they had long fa- 

 tigues to support ; facts which leave no doubt as to the nutri- 

 tive qualities of coffee. 



In Arabia the fmit of the tree, when allowed to grow wild, 

 is so bad as to be unfit for use. It is only in certain parts of 

 that country that the soil is adapted for its production. 

 Burckhardt was informed that it does not grow farther north 

 than Mishnye, in the district of Zohran, and that it improves in 

 quality towards the south. The plantations are found to thrive 

 best on the western side of the great mountains of Yemen. 

 They abound in the provinces of Heschid-u-Bekil, Kataba, and 

 Jafa ; but the climate about Udden, Kahhme, Kusma, Jebi, 

 Jobla, and Taas, is reckoned the most favourable, as the 

 shrub on these hills yields the berry in greater quantity and 

 of better flavour. The coffee produced in the neighbourhood 

 of Sanaa is esteemed the best. Europeans are mistaken in 

 supposing the tree should be planted in a dry soil, and under 

 a torrid sun. Though it is cultivated only in the hilly 

 regions, it requires both moisture and coolness ; and it is for 

 this reason that the Arabs plant other trees in their coffee- 

 grounds in order to afford it shade. In times of intense heat 

 the plantations are regularly irrigated ; which is the more 

 easily done, as they usually stand upon terraces in the form 

 of an amphitheatre, where they are so densely crowded that 

 the rays of the sun can hardly penetrate among the branches. 

 Most of them are only moistened by the rain ; but others 

 have the benefit of large reservoirs (birkets) upon the heights, 

 from which water is conveyed and sprinkled over the steep 

 declivities. The coffee-shrub is an evergreen ; its average 

 height is from twelve to fifteen feet ; the branches are elas- 

 tic, the bark rough and of a whitish colour ; the flowers re- 

 semble those of the jasmine, and though bitter to the taste, 

 they diffuse a strong balmy fragrance. At Bulgosa, Niebuhr 

 found the trees in full bloom in the beginning of March, and 

 the whole atmosphere perfumed with their delicious odour. 

 When the blossom dies the fruit appears in its place, green 

 at first, but red and resembling a cherry when ripe ; in the 

 centre of wliich lies the bean, enclosed in a thin membrane, 



Kk2 



