Much of the coffee which finds its way into England as genuine Mocha is, in reality, Malabar coffee, sent to ports of the Persian Gulf from Bourbon, and when thus naturalised, finding its way to Europe. But the coffee of India even now competes successfully with that of Arabia, in Bussorah, and other local markets, which the latter had for centuries commanded as its own. It is curious to watch the progress of English enterprise. The energetic and ubiquitous Anglo-Saxons hold India, and here we see coffee from India triumphing over the famous berry of Arabia. The cultivation of tea also is rapidly spreading over 30,000 square miles of the Sub-Himalayan ranges; and who knows but that Indian teas may yet compete with those of the flowery land in the markets of Shanghae? Already the Assam teas are held in high estimation by good judges of tea in this country, whilst they fetch a high price in India for local consumption. The colour of the berry is by no means a decisive criterion of excellence of quality; in some parts the bluish berry is esteemed most highly, in others the yellow. The West Indian coffees often change colour when kept a few years. It is well known that the various sorts of coffee imported into Europe from the several parts where the plant is cultivated differ widely in quality and flavour. Levantine or Mocha still retains its old superiority in this respect, though the best sorts imported from Ceylon, Bourbon, Mauritius, and other Indian Islands are now generally considered to come very near it. This difference in quality and flavour of the various sorts of coffee is generally attributed to climatic and local causes and influences, which are necessarily beyond the power of remedy. This, however, is a great mistake. The more or less advanced state of maturity to which the berry is allowed to attain before picking, and, more particularly still, the degree of dryness, and the longer or shorter period of time for which it is kept before being sent into the market, exercise a most powerful influence upon the quality and flavour of the article. Berries gathered before they have attained maturity, though they may be perfect in colour, will always have a raw, herbaceous taste. If the drying berries are heaped too thickly or closely, they are apt to heat and to contract an unpleasantly bitter and harsh taste, and a disagreeable smell; this will frequently occur also where artificial heat is had recourse to expedite the drying. Keeping tends to cure these serious defects in coffee. There are instances on record where coffee of a most disagreeable flavour and smell has been brought near perfection by being kept for some years in a dry loft; and though it may be going too far to assert, as has been done by some high authorities on the subject, that “the worst coffee produced in the West Indies will, in a course of years not exceeding ten or fourteen, be as good, parch and mix as well, and have as high a flavour as the best we