1892 Drinks of the world

DRINKS.

304

at first, but which becomes red when it ripens ; it is not unlike a cherry, and is very good to eat. Under the flesh of this cherry, instead of the stone, is found the bean, or berry, which we call coifee, wrapped round in a fine thin skin. The berry is then very soft, and of a disagreeable taste ; but as the cherry ripens, the berry in the inside grows harder, and the dried-up fruit being the flesh or the pulp of it, which was before eatable, becomes a shell or pod, of a deep brown colour. The berry is now solid, and of a clear transparent green. Each shell contains one berry, which splits into two equal parts. In Abyssinia coffee appears to have been used as a drink from time immemorial. Abd-Alkader, a learned native of Medina, writing at the beginning of the seventeenth century, gives us the history of its intro- duction into Arabia. A certain Sheikh, notorious for his piety and knowledge, named Jemal-Eddin, brought He was wont to take it as a medicine relieving the headache, enlivening the heart, and preventing drowsiness. This last attribute at once recommended it to the various imams, muftis, and dervishes, who wished to remain awake for the per- formance of religious exercises at night. The ex- amples of these holy persons had its usual influence upon the people, and coffee drinking soon became a common custom. Not, however, without considerable opposition did this fashion come into vogue ; there were many long and animated disputes about the legitimacy of drinking it from Persia to Aden.

Its defenders alleged its medicinal virtues, its

coffee.