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minica. Containing sme Remaris on the
T T is doing a very use ut piece of service, and I belleve an acceptable one to the public, tomal e them a litile beller acquainted Nith Costee, which now constitutes so considerable a part of their entertain ment, is not sustenance. Ι ampleased with the engraving of this very elegant plant it is executed in the best manner of this able artist j, and exactly after the finisheddrawing he received. Ι have not time to collest, or relate with sufficient accuracy, the history of this berry, sofar as it might be traced in the Asiatic histori es :it has been used sor ages. By the accolint Whichis surioined to the reflections I am go ing to mal eon this substance, it will appear, that it was in troduced by the French into Martinico in the west Indies uo longer ago than the year I727 ; that it has been since that time propagated inalmost ali the west India istanus, Englisti, French,
As Dr. Fothergili spealis se favourably of this engraving, I have on that account procured the original plate alluded to; it exhibiis the only impression that has not been pui poselyexecuted sor this edition of the Doctor's Works. Editor.
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and Dutch ; though it has not been cultivaled by us with the attention it deserves. The greatest part of the Cossee now made Useos in Europe is, I belleve, the produce of the West Indies; at least, the consumption of Mocha Coifee amongst his seems to be greatly reduc ed. Severat years ago tWo in ips were sent out annuallyby the East India Company ; they now only sen lone every two years for this arti cle, is I amrightly infirmed; though at the sanae time it may be presumed a much larger quantity is con
sessions in the west Indies, supply us clandestinelywith large quantities. It is triae, We impori agreat deal of ram Coisee from our own istan is ;hut the best is os foreigia gro th. The Frenchin particular chalti vate it With great attention; much likewise is brought frona their East India setilements. Those who are accustomed to di inlaCossee frequently, are sensibie of a very manifestdifferetice bet en the Asiatic, the French, and American Cossee. The res res hing odour of the sirit, and iis gratem l taste, much surpasi the best West India Coine I have ever feen importe t. There is something in the smeli, a ranknesse in the taste, and dis gusting return, especiallyof that frona the Englilli istantis, whicli malles ii ven Unpleas ant to those Cho have been accustomedio the best Mocha Coisee. The tree that was sit si carried to Martinico, Was a deicemlant of one frona Batavia. The
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Dutch most probably brought the planis to their
colony from Mocha, and there seems no dotabibiit it is the true Arabian Cossee whicli is nowcultivated in the west Indies : but is we reflectiapon the coharse it has talien, We may perhapssee cause to apprehend that it may have degeneraled considerabis.
That part of Arabia from whence the AsiaticCossee is brought, is for the most part extremelysandy, dry, and hol. At Batavia the soli is in generat ricli and deep; and though, like other eastern climates, there iaa dry season, yet in the rai ny periods the qUantity of wet that salis is excessive. The richluxuriant state of vegetation in the istand of Iava, on Whicli Batavia is situ aled, is a proos of this assertion ; and one may sasely inser, thata plant brought from a dry, sterile, sandy soli, will assume not only a Very different appearance, but iis fruit will have a Very different quali ty from that Whicli is the produce of a fertile, moist soli, subjected to equat heat. It is not there re improbabie, but frona this circumstance the planthrought Dona Batavia to the royal garden in
Francei and iis issue transported to a climate much more abound ing with moisture than that of whicli it Was a native, may so far have assumedanother natUre, as not eastly to be brought baclito iis original excellence.
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be sussiciently warranted by experience: butilaould it prove true, it may le ad his to One Practicabie method of meliorating Cossee. Let the Comee be planted in a soli as similar to iis natural one as possibie. Indeed the mori account whicli is annexed to this letter confirms myapprehensions. The drier the soli on whicli the CosDe grows, the sinalter is iis fruit, and iis quali ty more excellent. There are sonae kin is ostrees, Perhaps the greatest pari, whose fruit, vehite
the trees are yOUng, is ei ther more inspid, orthe lasse of it lessi refined, than at a more ad-vanced age. The fruit of young waln Ut-treesis large, but it is watery and insipid ; as the treegrows older the ntiis decreasse in sige, but theirtaste is more agree able. A similar progress maybe observe i in many other species ; and it is notim probabie but the Cossee tree may be another instance of the like properties. It is certain, that in old Cossee-trees the fruit is smaller ;Perhaps an accurate laste would discover that iis flavour is improved in proportion. The experiment may be recommended to those who Cul rivate the Comee-tree in otir istands. But Ι have not time to trace ali the circumstances that havea probabie tendency to tessen the value of Ouro Nn plantation Cossee. I hasten to another pollit, Which would monpiat our planters Upon ovei coming cory dim-cul ty, and would oblige them to study the culture
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What means can we malle it the west India planters interest to cultivate Costee in sicli amanner, as to approach in taste and flavour asnear to the Asiatic as possibi e t Perhaps theshortest ans ver to this would be, malle it their interest ; that is, in encoul age iis importation. Ι am weli informed, by a person intelligent in these matters, that the duties and excise onComee frona the plantations are as follow:
Totat per ib. is o I IQWhen such an excesive load os eXpences, and so many dissiculties aris e to the grOWer, importCr, and of consequence to the consumer of West India Comee, it is no wonder that the plantersgive thenaseives very litile concern abo at iis Cultivation. At present there is very litile differetice in the produce, and consequently in the price; the high duties are a bar to iis use amongst Us,
the Corie is in generat bad, and the price in
This discoui agemunt renders them tesse soli Cilous about it: bad as it may be produced, itfinda consumers abroad, and to vend it with ceristain ty ansWers their purpose beller than a more attent e
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attentive cultivation os a commodity clogged with such duties. Those who know the iaste of Mocha Cossee, and are destro is of using our West Indian, soon quit it with disgust. Better Corie than our OWn, the produce of the French istes, sin is iis way into some of the out-poris clandestinely, is much used, and thought to be equat to the Turky. Taste is perhaps more the effect of habitthan is generalty admitted; of this, iobacco isthe strongest and first instance that occurS to me rto a person unaccustomed to it, the finest is scarcely tolerable. Ιf the duties and excise Upon Comee were te Tened, the consumption would be in creassed :taste would grow more refined, the best would besought for, and the price Would be in proportion. The present duli es are almost prohibitory. Ιt may be worth one's while to vlew the e Tects
of these high duties in a political light I mean
in respect to this article. For a centUry to come, it is perhaps morethan probabie, that the people of this countrywili, for orae meat at least, malae use of ei ther Tea, Corie, or Clio colate; I speah of the generali ty. Tea at present talies the lead ; when ceit comes, iis history, properties, and uses, haVe
liere Upon the sub eist . It is a question osten proposed to physicians,
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culty to say, Willi precision, that one is more injurious than the other. For my own pari, IIeave it to the experience of individuals. Tosonae people Cossee is dis agree able ; they chargeit with producing nervous complainis. Tea isnot Without similar accusations. It seems as is the human frame was, hoWever, so happily constructed, that it is tessi in the power of such thingsto affect it than might at tirst sight be imagined. The animal poWers are apparently such, as . Canconvert almoit opposite principies to iis benefit, is used in any degree of moderation: some drinii Comee almost to excess, and condemn Tea as injurious; and so Cossee is treated in iis turn. These are proosse, however, hoW feW peopte are capable of mal ing proper inserences from expe
Ι think neither Cos e nor Tea afford any Verymateriai suppori; that is, contain very litile nutriment : they are rather the vehicles of nourishment thala nutritious of themselves : the most that Can be expected si om them in generat is, that they are gratesul, and very litile injurious. Custona lias ad ted them both, and it becomes Us to malae them a s Use ut to ourseives, and subservient to public good, as may be in Gurpo er. China, that supplies us with Tea, is remote ; the navigation long and dan gerous ; theclimate
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indeed, ali long Voyages are injurious, and thchoiter the climate the worse. As a nation, a commerciat nation, Whose accommodations depend on this useful race of people, We cannot, asfriends to humani ty, Mish to promo te the consumption of those articles, whicli are introducedat so great an expence of Uses ut lives. Comees rom our own plantations is in this res pedi much preserable to Tea; the voyage is s horter, therisque is tess. Supposing then, that Tea and Coisee are alitie in respeet to reat iis suinesse; that one is not inferior to the other in respect tothe health of the consumers : suppose, lihewise, that the dis advantage with respecto to the lives of the se amen were equal, whicli hoWever is not thecasse, there is one materiai disse reiace that oughtto turn the scale in favour of the more generalii se of Colfee-it is raised by our sellow-sul ects, and paid sor With our manufactia res. Tea, on
nese tali e frona Us is inconsiderabie, When Com
pared with the quantities We pay sor in bullion. The Chinese talae Dona Us every arti te hic ithey cara turn to national benefit, and whateverenables them to improve their manufacturis. Desides raW silli, and a sew other articles of si, Deli tile use in Our oWn manufactures. most o herthings imported frona the nce We can do witho ut,
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COTee, sor instance, reduced to a qUarter pari, more than dolable the quantity would be con sumed ; Was the consumption greater, the planterswου id finit it their interes h to cultivate the tre eswith more attention in reased demand would increasse the pvice ; and as more Came to mari et,
the best Would seli dearer than an inferior Lind. These must be the certain essedis of increased
demand . There is another consideration os sonae mo
the lesier planters might subsist by it, and a seiu
requisites of a fugar plantation, are beyond his reach : is he has any lan led property, by one
means or another, he is osten obliged to seli itto his richer neighboUr, and to remove to sonaeother Country, tesse Unfavo arabie to contracted circumstances. Thus the istands are gradu allythinned of the white inhabitanis; they becomelesse able to queli the insurrections of their ne groes, Or to Opposse any hostile invasiton. The annexed account of Co Tee anticipales sonae remari s Ι meaned to have spolie to more fully, which had osten occurred to me. The writer of that fiori accoUnt has not, hoWeVer,