COFFEE. 



67 



iN'othing cau exceed the beauty of the walks planted with coffee 

 trees, from their pyramidical shape and from their glossy dark 

 green leaves, shining with great brightness, amongst which are 

 hanging the scarlet-coloured berries. Mr. Baird, in his " Impres- 

 sions of the AYest Indies," thus speaks of a coffee plantation: — 



"Anything in the ^ray of cultivation more beautiful, or more fragrant, than 

 a coffee plantation, I had not conceived ; and oft did I say to myself, that if 

 ever I became, from health and otherwise, a cultivator of the soil within the 

 tropics, I would cultivate the colfee plant, even though I did so irrespective 

 altogether of the profit that might be derived from so doing. Much has been 

 \vritten, and not without justice, of the rich fragrance of an orange grove ; 

 and at home we ofctimes hoar of the sweet odors of a bean -field. I have, too, 

 often enjoyed in the Carse of Stirling, and elsewhere in Scotland, the balmy 

 breezes as they swept over the latter, particularly when the sun had burst out, 

 with unusual strength, after a shower of rain. I have likewise, in Martinique, 

 Santa Cruz, Jamaica, and Cuba, inhaled the gales wafted from the orangeries ; 

 but not for a moment would I compare either Avith the exquisite aromatic 

 odors from a cofi"ee plantation in full blow, when the hill-side — covered over 

 with regular rows of the tree-like shrub, with their millions of jessamine-like 

 flowers — showers down upon you, as you ride up between the plants, a perfume 

 of the most delicately delicious description. 'Tis worth going to the West 

 Indies to see the sight and inhale the perfume." 



The decline in the quantities of coffee drawn from the 'West 

 Indies to supply the great demand, is manifest in the following 

 summary of imports from those islands : — 



lbs. 



In 1828 they exported about .... 30,000,000 

 1831 the imports from British West Indies were . 20,017,623 

 1841 Ditto Ditto . . . 9,904,230 



18o0, the last year in which distinct accounts were kept 4,262,225 



Decrease from 1831 . lo,7oo,398 



Jamaica. — The coffee plant was first introduced into Jamaica by 

 Sir Xicholas Lawes, in 1728, when it was cultivated on an estate 

 called Temple Hall, in Liguanea, not far from Kingston. In 1752 

 there Avere exported 60,000 lbs. ; and in 1775, 41,000 lbs. Until 

 1788 little attention was paid to this product. In the four years end- 

 ing 30th September, 1794, the average exportation of coffee was 

 1,603,066 lbs. ; in 1804 it amounted to 22,000,000 lbs. ; and during 

 the three years ending 30th September, 1807, the ayerage annual 

 exportation was more than 28,500,000 lbs.; which, at £6 per cwt,, 

 its cost in Jamaica, produced more than £1,700,000. It is calcu- 

 lated that £20,000,000 was invested in coffee estates. The coffee 

 plant thrives in almost every soil about the mountains of Jamaica, 

 and in the very driest spots has frequently produced abundant 

 crops. In 1844 there were 671 coffee plantations in the island. 

 Coffee is grown in the vicinity of the Blue Mountain Peak at a 

 height of 4,700 feet above the level of the sea, and some of the 

 finest and most productive plantations are in this locality. The 

 branches of a coffee tree, on Eadnor estate, covered, in 1851, a 

 space of thirteen feet in diameter, and the tree was about thirteen 

 years old. 



In 1789 Hayti exported 77,000,000 lbs. of coffee, but in 1826 



F 2 



