July i, 1891,] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
7 
far from approving the indiscreob zeal on tho part 
of bis Governor, was muoh surprised to ftod so servore 
a punishment iufictod on ColTeo drinkern, inasmuch 
na lu Cairo, where there were ao many abler Physi- 
cians than at Mecca, the opinion wus iu favour of 
Coffee drinking, and besides none of tlm teachers of 
the Mohummodan Law there considered CoITee drink- 
ing as opposed to tho doctrinos inculcated iu the 
Koran. Por these reasons, ho ordered his Governor 
to recall and rescind tho Decree, which he was obliged 
to do, tho’ much against his will. 
The two Persian Physicians fimliog themselves much 
deSi^isod and looked down upon, since the reonll oi 
the Decree, left Mecca for Cairo, and wore there 
put to death for the imprecations hurled by them 
at tlio head of tho Grand Sigueur Selira Xat, who 
came to wrest Bgypt from CampAoni al Gauri, and 
who was the last Sultan who restored the practice 
of Coffee drinking in Mocca.” 
Paut IV. 
The good people of Mecca sip Coffee ad Hbitum 
until a certain Uadi shuts up all the (JolToe shops ; 
but his successor, a bettor man, gets them all openou 
again— Soli man the Great Bonds forth an Eiiict <le- 
uouiioing tha uso of Coffee in Mecca, and it is 
generally believed that hia Sultana is at tho bottom 
of the dodye '^ — The Pacha of Egypt who ia rather 
fond of Coffee confers with hla \rii>e niou on the 
subject and comes to the oonclosion that tho Great 
Soliman is a fool and a knave'* — Mr. Anthony 
Galland again ; and some choice verses on the virluts 
of Coffee by a Turkish Bard — Constantinople — How 
Sjenis end Hokem liorished there and how their 
Coffee honses happened to be always chokt -full of 
Poets, PhiloAophers and Che-s players— The Mosques 
begin to be negb'cti'd the Turkirh Divines snnnd the 
‘‘ Toenn of n/ar;n,” and the Multi or Pope thinks it 
high time to shut up the Coffeo shops, and they aro 
shut up accordingly — The Turks get to be cxou’ssively 
fond of the beverage and won^fc give it up for “love 
or money” — Of a Vizier who attempted to suppress 
tho free expression of public opinion and of his two 
sons who played tho part of eavea-droppers and 
brought certain innocent people into scrape — And 
lastly of oeriaiii hone*t shop -keepers who took advan- 
tage of the Coffee drinking mania and sold their 
good at a high premium. 
After the conquest— of Egypt by Bolim (which took 
place in 1516,) it appears that Coffee drinking was 
more properly understood in Turkey, and by degrees 
the use of it booamo known throughout the country, 
especially as tho use of Coffee was re-establised md 
restored in Mecca, and no further questions were 
raised there up to tho year 1625, The Cadi or 
Judge of tho town, however, caused all the Coffee- 
house to bo closed up that very same year owing 
to the great irregularities which took place dally, 
but without preventing, in partfclunr, any person uRing 
tho drink in his own house. His successor however, 
ordered thu re-opening of (the Coffeo-houso, forbiding 
only tke reourtenee of similar irregularities and 
disturbances. 
From Cairo the u.«o of tho Coffee spread gradually, 
'ere it was known in Turkov, first to Damascus, and 
then to \leppo, and eventually to Coustantiuople. 
Subsequently in 1511 , a oarvau from Damascus 
reached Mecca with sn Edict from Soliman the Great 
denouncing tho use of Coffee, but this order was not 
strictly observed, ns it was generally, known that it 
emanated from the Turkish Sultana, in her overwhelm- 
ing solicitude for the Einporor, who indulged iu the 
drink, Whilst at the same time the Basbaw of Egypt 
took the opinion of all the Teachers of their Ijuw in 
writing, shewing the vanity of snob an order, and tho 
ignorance of those who oonJemeDd this drtok. 
Howeit tbforo prevailed some years aftnrwards a 
great deivoreity of opinion in respect of the u‘;e of Coffee 
at Meoon; the people of that twon being divided into 
two parties each maintaining a different opinion, 
Thus far proceeds the account of the aforesaid Arabian 
whose manuBoript Mr, Galland have availed himself of 
as also that of a Turkish writer named Pitsjevelli 
(after Fitsjeri a town in Hungary) one of the three 
Treasurers of the turkish Empire. Mr. Galland aUo 
obtained some information from a Poem written by Be- 
ligi, a Turkish Poet, which agrees, j’n suhstancCt with 
he foregoing account, and of which I subjoin a poetical 
translation : 
Tot JIalop vind in’, en tot Damascus by do OrootHii 
Kii ool( tot Cairo (dmir m’ si medo wvet ic ontblooton 
Do (’olh— Boon van hare schil) do Cofli- vrngt 
Die I «v« en tUero drank, die wel Zoo’n d*epo zupt 
Uit menig augstiK hurt na hovcn wist to haalen, 
Eer die by ’tTurka derail bogou to Zogonraalon. 
* # # • # 
[Tha following, it must bo coufesseJ, is rather a free 
rondorieg of the Dutch versiau of this short Turkish 
Poem, from which a few lines have been given above. 
Your readers will, of comse, e.xcnse the shortcomings 
of tho TrMiHla'or in his attempt to give, at least, the 
spiHt of the oriyinal in Eogliali verse,] 
1 ping Iho Cgfft*© Plant, whiah, tho’ oppos’d by Fate 
Has spread thro' cv'ry Country, City, Sta'e, 
At Hall*]), Cairo .and Damssous too 
It ha^ aecitr’d the fame winch was lt« due. 
Buy, who oould est’matc 
'iho virtual of that drink 
Which mndo not one, 
But ma-iy tboihands th’nk. 
And write such work« a.s made the vulgar shire 
Ami fill’d tho woild witli disputations rare ! ! 
Buy, V ho could well describe iia wandrous pow'r 
To flKHT tbo htarl in “ sorrow’s lonoly hour” 
SuHtiifn the drooping spirits of the fair 
Who cag’d in Harems, pine in sadniss there; 
(tTnhrtppy birds, I wi^b I hat the key 
To opo I wide your doors and bid you all be free 
Coffee ! rurc plant 
Where’er thou deign’et to grow, 
The source of wealth 
To hundreds hero below ; 
Some thong’it that thou dids't once 
Thft place of wine sujply. 
As well o,'^ Beer 
As some ■will scirco deny. 
Whato’er Uiou art. fair plant, 
Of whatsoever clime, 
Tliy virtuea gjval have pnazl’d oft 
The wTs of oUien time ; 
But now we know thco well, fair plant, 
and all Hiy virtues too 
My task is o’er, farewell my muse 
Ye Coffee, plants adi»‘U ! I 
Prior to the ycir 1854 very little wa« known of 
Coffee ate onstaiitinople and .till leas of Coffeo honseo 
It \va« tho Snl’ana who did her best to put a etop 
to Coffee drinking at Mecca, hot in tho pamn year 
nearly a century after Coffee had begun to bo 'llrat 
UfOd iu Aden, and in tlie reign of fcsolimnn tho Great 
two individuils named Sjonis and Hakein, the former 
of DamawtiP, and the latter of Aleppo eatabliahed 
Coffee hotiaes in Constantinople in a cer ain qnarter 
called Tahhta-Oalah, and Bold the liquid to pooala 
of learning, Poets, Cheas Players (more properly 
Sz'ih-Playera or lovers of the King’s Game, for <S’*aA 
signifii's a King in the Persian language) or others 
who were inolimed to amuse themselves with some 
eneh games. 
ADcae nousea were aiterwarcls greatly multiplied 
and the very Tarkish Courtiers roaorlod to them to 
regale themselves with a cup of r’aitwA. 
As the use of Coffee beosme now more general and 
extended, these gentry were ofteuer to bo found in 
the Coffee shops than at their Mosques. This gave 
rise to no small stir and grumhliog amongst the 
Turh'sh, Divines, who loudly declsimed the practice 
as repugnant to the tenets of their Law, and got 
tho Multi on their side, who gavo liis assent to rite 
sh ps being oIorpq, 
Hereupon, all the Coffee hoiuses wore immediately 
shut up, and instructions oonvoyod to tho Ohief Alag- 
istratos to seo this order strictly enforced, iStorn and 
absolute as this order was, it had not the effect of 
altogether putting an end to the use of Coffao 
Under Amnroth tho III. this order was ng.ain 
revived, but the abandoumeiit of jo agreeable a be- 
verage was not to boeudnrod by tho Turks who bv 
bribes and tho oonnivanoo of those whoso duty it 
"i***'® “‘ill 0 '‘">ed on the practice 
of Coffee drmkiog, though not so pnblickly as before 
the order being entirely disregarded, ‘ 
