very inferior, said to be due largely to the system of labor. The finer grades of coffee come from the private plantations. The coffee business is a monopoly, the government buying the product at a fixed price and then grading it for market. The price received by the government varies all the way from 15 to 60 guilders per picul, the average being about 40. The consul was very proud of the fact that he had sold the highest priced coffee which ever left Padang—90 guilders the picul, equivalent to about 27 cents of our money per pound. This coffee came to America.
The warehouses were redolent with the odors of all kinds of spices. Bales of cinnamon bark, piles of mace and nutmegs, bins of pepper and cloves attested the fitness of the early name for these islands. All of the spices must be sorted very carefully and many of them tested. For example, the bales of cinnamon bark contained a large portion that was absolutely worthless, put in knowingly by the natives who gathered it. This worthless bark can not be told by sight and so each piece must be tasted.
After the instruments had all been packed, and while waiting for the steamer, a short trip was made into the Padang Highlands, where the natives were seen at home in their peculiar horned houses.
This little-visited corner of the world offers an attractive field for the traveler who cares to go off the beaten paths. When the official calls had all been paid and the time came to say 'slamat' I left the island of Sumatra with many regrets.
