INCENSE-TREE COFFEE. 427 



artichoke ; it has a thin leaf, which, when scarified, pro- 

 duces a fluid like milk ; this turns into gum, and is then 

 called laban, or frankincense." Some French naturalists 

 suppose it to be Soswellia dentata of Roxburgh, which 

 is described as growing to a considerable height on the 

 mountainsof Coromandel ;* but this account does not agree 

 with what the ancients say of the incense-tree. According 

 to Lord Valentia, the frankincense is chiefly produced 

 near Cape Guardafui, and is exported from a harbour of 

 the Somaulies called Bunder Cassim. It forms an article 

 of trade with the Red Sea, and is principally consumed 

 in Catholic countries. As the natives hold their own pro- 

 duce in no estimation, and make use of that only which 

 comes from India, we deem it unnecessary to add any 

 farther remarks to what has been already said of this sub- 

 stance, as well as of myrrh, cassia, spikenard, with other 

 resinous and aromatic plants, in treating of the commerce 

 of the ancient Arabs. The name thus, by which it was 

 known to the Greeks and Romans, was superseded in the 

 decline of the Latin language by that of incense (incen- 

 sum), from the universal practice of burning it in the 

 temples of their gods.t 



Coffee (Coffea Arabica) is a native of Abyssinia, and 

 has been noticed among the vegetable productions of that 

 country. That it was introduced into Yemen by the 

 Abyssinian conquerors is highly probable; and when the 

 Koran prohibited the use of wine this supplementary 

 drink would take its place, and propagate itself by de- 

 grees over the regions which embraced the creed of 

 Islam. This supposition is not founded on mere conjec- 

 ture. We learn from Poncet, who travelled in Ethiopia 

 in 1698, that the opinion then universally prevalent in the 

 East was, that coffee had been originally transported from 

 that kingdom into Arabia Felix. The etymology of the 

 name itself is a strong presumption that it was at first in- 

 tended as a substitute for the juice of the grape. Cah- 

 oueh (or cahveh, as the Turks pronounce it with a v, 

 whence our word coffee is derived) was used by the old 

 Arabs, in its primary sense, to denote wine or other in- 

 toxicating liquors. It was afterwards applied to the de- 



* Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Hist. Nat. art. Encens. Roxburgh, 

 Plants of Coromandel. 

 j- Vol. i. chap. v. p. 178. Eutrop. Rer. Rom. lib. xi. 



