Page:Life in Java Volume 1.djvu/283

Rh is afterwards taken out and carted to some two and three-storied sheds, where it is strewn upon the floors, and left until all moisture is gone. In a day or two it is taken out and spread upon receivers of wood or brick in the open air; and when the husk is found to be thoroughly dry and brittle, it is carried away into another building to be shelled. Were the berries exposed to the sun immediately after being taken from the reservoir—which would certainly appear to be the most expeditious plan—they would rot from drying too quickly.

We were next shown a kind of threshing-machine, the stand of which was something like a capstan, placed in the centre of two circular broad grooves, having four good-sized poles fixed into it, to keep the heavy wheels revolving in their respective orbits. The dried coffee is thrown into these grooves, where the pressure of the wheels as they turn round soon takes all the husks off. When