coffee farmer waits for the broker to call on
him. From the town of Harar the coffee is transported by mule or camel
train to Dire-Daoua, whence it is shipped by rail to Jibuti, to be sent
by direct steamers to Europe, or across the Gulf of Aden to Aden in
Arabia.

[Illustration: COFFEE-LADEN OXEN FORDING STREAM, COLOMBIA]

Ten different languages are spoken in Harar. In order successfully to
engage in the coffee business there, it is necessary either to become
proficient in all these tongues, or to engage some one who is.

[Illustration: TRANSPORTING COFFEE BY MULEBACK IN THE CITY OF CUCUTA,
COLOMBIA]

[Illustration: Schooner from Encontrados to Maracaibo]

[Illustration: One of the lake and river steamers]

[Illustration: COFFEE CARGO CARRIERS THAT OPERATE ON LAKE MARACAIBO AND
TRIBUTARY RIVERS]

[Illustration: DONKEY TRANSPORT TRAIN FOR COFFEE IN MEXICO]

[Illustration: COFFEE TRANSPORT IN MEXICO AND SOUTH AMERICA]

When the coffee is brought, partially cleaned, into Harar by donkey or
mule train, it is first taken to the open air custom-house (coffee
exchange) in the center of the town, where a ten-percent duty (in
coffee) is exacted by the local government, and one Abyssinian dollar
(fifty cents) is added for every thirty-seven and a half pounds, this
latter being Ras Makonnen's share. As soon as the native dealer has
released to him what remains of his shipment, he takes it out of the
custom-house enclosure and disposes of it through the native brokers,
who have their little "office" booths stretching in a long line up the
street just outside the custom-house entrance.

[Illustration: DONKEY COFFEE TRANSPORT ON THE WAY FROM HARAR TO
DIRE-DAOUA]

There, a brokerage charge of one piaster per bag is paid by the buyer,
and the coffee then becomes the property of the European merchant. In
some cases it is put through a further cleaning process; but usually it
is shipped to Jibuti or Aden uncleaned. Arriving at Jibuti, there is a
one-percent ad valorem duty to pay. At Aden, there is another tax of one
anna (two cents) to be paid to the British authorities.

[Illustration: COFFEE CAMELS IN THE CUSTOM-HOUSE, HARAR]

Since 1914, however, Abyssinian coffee has been exported largely through
the Sudan, a much shorter and less expensive trip than that to Adis
Abeba and Jibuti. Now the coffee is carried by pack-train to Gambela on
the Sobat River; and thence by river steamer to Khartoum, where it is
loaded on r