432 



NATURAL HISTORY OF ARABIA. 



yet less of it is drunk in Yemen than in the other provin- 

 ces. The flavour is greatly improved by their mode of 

 preparing it : instead of grinding the beans in a mill, they 

 pound them to an impalpable powder in a close mortar, 

 which seems better to express and preserve from evapo- 

 rating those oily particles that give the decoction its pe- 

 culiar relish. They also use a preparation from the husks, 

 called cafe a la sultane, which is made by pounding and 

 roasting them, and is esteemed an excellent beverage. 

 The greatest care is taken of the powdered coffee, 

 which is kept closely pressed down in a wooden box, and 

 the quantity required for use is scraped from the surface 

 with a wooden spoon. Two small pots are often used ; 

 in the one the water is boiled (generally mixed with the 

 remains of the preceding meal) ; into the other is put the 

 fresh coffee, and it is sometimes heated by standing near 

 the fire before the boiling water is added. This latter 

 mixture is then boiled two or three times j care being taken 

 to pour a few drops of cold water upon it the last time, 

 or to place over it a linen cloth dipped in cold water. 

 After this process it is allowed to subside, and then 

 emptied into the pot containing the boiling water. All 

 classes use it without milk or sugar; people of rank drink 

 it out of porcelain cups ; the lower sort are content with 

 coarser ware. In Hejaz it is served up to travellers in 

 small earthen pots like bottles, containing from ten to 

 fifteen cups. This vessel has a long narrow neck, with a 

 bunch of dry herbs stuck into its mouth, through which 

 the liquor is poured. At Mocha, Mrs Lushington ob- 

 served that every lady, when she pays a visit, carries on 

 her arm a little bag of coffee, which is boiled at the house 

 where she spends the evening ; and in this way she can 

 enjoy society without putting her friends to expense. 

 The Bedouin cooks this meal in the same rude manner 

 that he does his cakes and his mutton. He roasts a few 

 beans on an iron shovel, hammers them to atoms in a 



and divided into two parts. Out of this machine it falls into a brass 

 sieve, which separates it from the husks. It is then thrown into a 

 vessel full of water, where it soaks for one night, and is afterwards 

 thoroughly washed and dried. Another machine called the peel- 

 iny-tiii/l, which is a wooden grinder turned vertically upon its axis 

 by a mule or horse, is employed to strip the thin pellicle from the 

 Ixnin ; and after this process it is winnowed by slaves, who set the 

 air in motion by turning rapidly four tin-plates fixed upon an axle. 



