THE SUB-TROPICAL ZONE. 103 



land by Pasqua Kosee, in St. Michael's Alley, 

 Cornhill, at the sign of his own head." 



When it is considered that it was made 

 strong, and drunk without sugar or milk, it 

 may be believed that it was not much liked ; 

 one person describing it as being as black 

 as soot, and tasting not much unlike it. For 

 twenty years after its introduction it was the 

 subject of general invective, both as to medi- 

 cinal and domestic use. When first intro- 

 duced into Turkey, it was forbidden by the 

 government on the ground of its being an 

 intoxicating beverage ! and the Mohammedan 

 priests complained that the people forsook the 

 mosques, and crowded to the coffee-houses. 

 Now, however, it has long been a necessary of 

 life in that country ; so that at one time the 

 refusal of a husband to supply his wife with a 

 reasonable quantity of it, was reckoned among 

 the legal causes for a divorce. When first 

 introduced into England it was worth four or 

 five guineas per pound ; but, by degrees, the 

 consumption increased, till, in 1808, 1,000,000 

 pounds were ^mported, the duty being then 

 two shillings per pound. In 1824, the duty 

 was lowered to sixpence, when it increased 

 rapidly ; in 1839, it had reached 27,000,000 

 pounds, and in 1848, 57,061,431 pounds were 

 imported. The best coffee is still imported 

 from Mocha, in Arabia, but very large quanti- 

 ties are brought from the West Indies, Java, 

 and Ceylon. 



Between the desert of Arabia and the Medi- 



