and all my days are trances;

and all my nightly dreams

are where thy dark eye glances,

and where thy footstep gleams:

in what etherial dances,

by what eternal streams.

e. a. poe.

to the peruvian the province of yongas de la paz in the north-east of bolivia is an el dorado, because there grows in the greatest profusion and luxuriance his favorite coca. we may look with delight towards the island of ceylon, and, in imagination, snuff the fragrant breezes that have passed over the cinnamon groves and coffee plantations; or direct the gaze of our children across the map of the world to south-eastern china, and inform them that from thence our good dames receive their tea; and thence to the united states, and add that from this place their worthy sires receive the greater part of their tobacco. but the affections of the peruvian are not so divided; they are located upon one spot, and that the province of the “warm valleys,” or the yungas de la paz; there dwells his patron saint, and from thence he receives the286 “keys of paradise.”

at the time of the conquest the coca was only used by the incas, and those of the royal, or rather solar, blood. it was cultivated for the monarch and for the solemnities of their religion; none might raise it to his mouth, unless he had rendered himself worthy by his services to partake of this honour with his sovereign. the plant was looked upon as an image of divinity, and no one entered the enclosures where it was cultivated without bending the knee in adoration. the divine sacrifices made at that period were thought not to be acceptable to heaven, unless the victims were crowned with branches of this tree. the oracles made no reply, and auguries were terrible if the priest did not chew coca at the time of consulting them. it was an unheard of sacrilege to invoke the shades of the departed great without wearing the plant in token of respect, and the coyas and mamas who were supposed to preside over gold and silver, rendered the mines impenetrable unless propitiated by it. in the course of time its use extended, and gradually became the companion of the whole indian population. to this plant the native recurred for relief in his greatest distress; no matter whether want or disease oppressed him, or whether he sought the favours of fortune or love, he found consolation in the “divine plant.”

the word by which this plant is known has been referred, for its etymology, to the aymara language, in which khoka signifies tree or plant. it is known that the shrub producing the matè or paraguay tea, the favourite beverage of many south american nations, is called la yerba, i.e.the plant. as also in mexico tobacco was called yetl, and by the peruvians sagri, meaning in those languages the herb, so we, occasionally, are apt to designate the latter article the weed. showing,287 that to those persons or nations who have appropriated such names, trivial in themselves, to the different articles of consumption, these plants were in themselves pre-eminent in the vegetable creation, as, in another instance, we have shown our appreciation of one book above all others, century after century, by the simple designation of the book.

in europe, the historians of the conquest gave the first information of the sacred plant of the peruvians; this was, however, merely superficial. in 1569, monardes, and in 1605 clusius, wrote concerning it, but the leaves of the plant itself were not seen until brought over by one of the companions of la condamine, joseph de jussieu, who nearly lost his life in 1749, while crossing the cordilleras in search of this plant. he was compelled to cross the mountains, covered as they were with snow, on foot, descending by means of paths cut out like ladders, and overhanging frightful precipices. the intensity of the sun’s rays, reflected by the snow, caused him the most distressing pains in the eyes, and almost blinded him, but the success of his expedition consoled him for the misfortunes that he had endured.

this shrub rises to the height of from four to eight feet, the stem covered with whitish tubercles, which appear to be formed of two curved lines set face to face. the leaves are oblong, and acute at each end, from an inch and a half to two inches in length. the leaves are the only parts used, for which purpose they are collected and dried. the shrub is found wild in peru, according to p?ppig, in the environs of cuchero, and on the stony summit of the cerro de san christobal. it is cultivated extensively in the mild, but very moist climate of the andes of peru, at from 2,000 to 5,000 feet above the sea level; in colder situations288 it is apt to be killed, and in warmer to lose the flavour of the leaf.

the coca plant is propagated from seed sown in nursery beds and carefully watered. when about sixteen or eighteen inches high they are transplanted into plantations called cocals, in terraces upon the sides of the mountains. at the end of a year and a half the plant affords its first crop, and from this period to the age of forty years or more it continues to yield a supply. instances have been noticed of coca plantations that have existed for near a century; but the greatest abundance of leaves is obtained from plants between the third and sixth years. there are four gatherings in the season; the first takes place at the period of flowering, and consists of the lower leaves only. these are larger and less finely flavoured than those afterwards collected, and are mostly consumed at once. the next and most abundant harvest takes place in march; the third and most scanty, in june or july, and the last in november. the leaves are collected similarly to those of tea. women and children are employed for this purpose. the gatherer squats down, and holding the branch with one hand, plucks from it the leaves, one by one, with the other. these are deposited in a cloth, from which they are afterwards collected into sacks to be conveyed from the plantation. the sacks of leaves are carried to the haciendas, where they are spread upon a floor of black slate to dry in the sun. they are then packed up in bales made of banana leaf, closely pressed together, each bale containing on an average twenty-four pounds. the price realised to the cultivator is one shilling per pound.

dr. weddell endeavoured to obtain reliable information as to the quantity of coca cultivated and collected in the province of yongas, and states,289 as a result, that the annual produce is about 400,000 bales, or 9,600,000 spanish pounds. there is also a large cultivation, not only in other parts of bolivia, and in peru, but also in parts of brazil, so that this cannot represent more than half the amount of the annual consumption of coca. it is true that p?ppig estimated fifteen millions of pounds as the quantity consumed, but this would be too small. on the other hand, johnston estimates the consumption at thirty millions of pounds; this is, probably, erring rather on the contrary side. of this quantity he estimates the value at one million and a half sterling, and concludes that the chewing of coca is indulged in by about ten millions of the human race. this again is rather a “long bow;” the use of coca seems to be confined to peru, bolivia, and brazil—at any rate, it is confined to south america, and there is no mention of its indulgence in chili to the south, or in the columbian republics to the north. it would, moreover, confer upon us somewhat of a personal favour, were some one to convince us that the male population of south america amounts to the number which the professor has estimated as that of the indulgers in coca. our own impression is, that the entire population has only been estimated at seventeen and a quarter millions: this is, at least, the mean of four very respectable authorities. suppose half of these to be children, and half of the residue females, and we have only an adult male population of less than four and a half millions in the southern half of the new world. ye shades of cocker and de morgan! tell us how from these we can subtract ten millions who indulge in coca, and yet show a remainder, be it ever so small, of abstainers. but it has never been affirmed that coca was indulged in, except in290 peru, bolivia, and brazil. the population of these three countries amount, according to the higher authorities, only to ten millions, so that every man, woman, and child, must be a coquero to reach the estimated number. viewing this subject in another of its phases—johnston states that the average consumption of the coquero is from one ounce to one ounce and a half per day, or, according to ordinary computation, twenty-two to thirty-three pounds per year, whereas the estimated production, which we have presumed to be too large, is, in fact, too small for the number estimated as indulging therein, as it only allows each coca masticator three pounds per annum. in all deference to so high an authority, we will venture to suggest that were the number indulging in coca limited to two millions, and the supply to twenty millions of pounds, or ten pounds annually to each person, some of these difficulties would be removed; but, out of regard for the patience of our readers, we will forbear detailing any further calculations, or the bases on which they rest.

at first the spaniards strenuously opposed the use of the coca—it was anathematized by them everywhere, as tobacco was by its zealous opponents in the old world, but this opposition only seemed to produce an extension of the habit. then the spaniards, appreciating the advantages which might accrue to them in a monopoly of the plant, took the culture into their own hands, and by force, enrolled the indians of the cordilleras in their service, much to the discomfort of the latter, who suffered extremely from the change of climate. complaints to the government being so numerous, the viceroy, don francisco de toledo, espoused the cause of the indians, published seventy-one decrees in their favour, and the speculation was abandoned. it is said, that in291 1583 the government of potosi derived a sum not less than ￡100,000 from the consumption of 90,000 to 100,000 baskets of this leaf. the cultivation of coca is therefore an important feature in peruvian husbandry, and so lucrative, that a coca plantation, whose original cost and current expenses amounted to ￡500 during the first twenty months, will, at the end of ten months more, bring a clear income of ￡340.

the coca possesses a slightly aromatic and agreeable odour, and when chewed, dispenses a grateful fragrance, its taste is moderately bitter and astringent, and somewhat resembles green tea; it tinges the saliva of a greenish hue. its effects on the system are stomachic and tonic, and it is said to be beneficial in preventing intermittents, which have always prevailed in this country.

the mode of employing coca is to mix with it in the mouth a small quantity of lime prepared from shells, much after the manner that the betel is used in the east. with this, a handful of parched corn, and a ball of arrow-root, an indian will travel on foot a hundred leagues, trotting on ahead of a horse. on the frequented roads, we are informed, that the indian guides have certain spots where they throw out their quids, which have accumulated into little heaps, that now serve as marks of distance; so that, instead of saying, one place is so many leagues from another, it is common to call it so many quids. dr. weddell states that the bolivians are in the habit of using instead of lime with their leaf, a substance called llipta, which consists of the ashes of the quinoa plant; in other parts the ashes of other plants are used, as on the amazon, those of the leaves of the trumpet-tree. these alkaline ashes are made into little cakes, and sold in the markets.

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“the peruvian ordinarily keeps his coca in a little bag called chuspa, which he carries suspended at his side, and which he places in front whenever he intends to renew his chique, which he does at regular intervals, even when travelling. the indian who prepares himself to chew, in the first place sets himself as perfectly at ease as circumstances permit. if he has a burden, he lays it down; he seats himself, then putting his chuspa on his knees, he draws from it, one by one, the leaves which are to constitute his fresh ‘quid.’ the attention which he gives to this operation is worthy of remark. the complaisance with which the indian buries his hand in the leaves of a well-filled chuspa, the regret he seems to experience when the bag is nearly empty, deserve observation, for these little points prove that to the indian the use of coca is a real source of enjoyment, and not the simple consequence of want.” we remember an elderly lady31 who was in the habit of taking snuff with the same amount of ceremony. first, she comfortably seated herself, arranged her dress, and smoothed her apron. the most important occupations always being for the time put aside, and apparently forgotten. the next operation consisted in drawing from some capacious receptacle, the entrance to which was enveloped in the folds of her outer garment, a large brown handkerchief, studded with small yellow spots, just visible, we remember it for years, and never any other; this was laid upon the lap prepared to receive it. another step consisted in drawing out from the same mysterious receptacle, a black japanned box, circular in shape, and of the diameter of a shaving-box, but scarce an inch in thickness; this was carefully wiped with the handkerchief293 already named, and then grasped in the left hand, resting on the palm, and pressed by the thumb on one side, and the extremities of the fingers on the other. a slight, but smartly repeated rap or two on the top of the box with the knuckles of the right hand constituted the commencement of the fourth operation, which ended by taking hold of the upper portion of the box with the fingers of the right hand, in the same manner that the lower was held by the left, and gently raising it obliquely, as it were, upon a hinge, although it possessed none, and leaving it, when nearly perpendicular, in charge of the now disengaged fore-finger and thumb of the left hand, whilst the right hand was entirely free. how radiant was the smile when the yellow dust filled at least a moiety of the cavity of the opened box. how disconsolate the expression when this devout consummation was not attained. witness next the extended fingers, and the adroit dexterity with which the finger and thumb collected its accustomed dole, and conveyed it to the olfactory organs. how carefully it was carried, first to the right nostril, and then to the left, and with two hearty inspirations imbibed. the returning fingers now closed the box, which received another wipe, and was then returned into the receptacle. the fingers first, and then the nose, underwent the same purifying process by means of the brown handkerchief. then, although no particle of dust could anywhere be seen, the whole frontispiece, from the chin to the knees, underwent a regular dusting; the handkerchief was replaced among the folds of the dress, the apron smoothed down with both hands, a half-uttered exclamation of satisfaction, and the work which had been temporarily laid aside was now resumed, until another occasion of a like character should arise to demand its suspension.

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but to return to coca, the effects of which are described as of the most extraordinary nature, totally distinct from those produced by any other known plant in any part of the world. the exciting principle is said to be so volatile, that leaves, after being kept for twelve months, entirely lose their power, and are good for nothing.

large heaps of the freshly-dried leaves, particularly while the warm rays of the sun are upon them, diffuse a very strong smell, resembling that of hay in which there is a quantity of melilot. the natives never permit strangers to sleep near them, as they would suffer violent headaches in consequence. when kept in small portions, and after a few months, the coca loses its scent, and becomes weak in proportion. the novice thinks that the grassy smell and fresh hue are as perceptible in the old state as when new. without the use of lime, which always excoriates the mouth of a stranger, the natives declare that coca has not its true taste, a flavour which can only be detected after long use. it then tinges green the carefully swallowed saliva, and yields an infusion of the same colour. of this infusion p?ppig made trial, and found that it had a flat, grass-like taste, but he experienced the full power of its stimulating principles. when taken in the evening, it was followed by great restlessness, loss of sleep, and generally uncomfortable sensations, while from its exhibition in the morning, a similar effect, though to a slight degree arose, accompanied with loss of appetite. dr. archibald smith of huanaco, when on one occasion unprovided with chinese tea, made a trial of the coca as a substitute for it, but experienced such distressing sensations of nervous excitement, that he never ventured to use it again. it is not at all uncommonly used in this way; and the indians have tea-parties or tertulias,295 for taking the infusion of the leaves, as well as for chewing them. some affirm that in the coca-tea drinkings the effects are agreeably exhilarating. it is usual to say on such occasions, “vamos à coquear y acullicar”——“let us indulge in coca.”

chewing the coca becomes quite a passion in those who indulge in it; and when the habit is once commenced, it is affirmed that it is never discontinued, and that an instance of a reclaimed coquero has never been known. to indulge in the enjoyment of this narcotic, the peruvian will expose himself to the greatest dangers. as its stimulus is most fully developed when the body is exhausted with toil, or the mind with conversation, “the victim then hastens to some retreat in a gloomy native wood, and flinging himself under a tree, remains stretched out there, heedless of night or of storms, unprotected by covering or by fire, unconscious of the floods of rain, and of the tremendous winds which sweep the forest, and after yielding himself for two or three entire days to the occupation of chewing coca, returns home to his abode, with trembling limbs, and a pallid countenance, the miserable spectacle of unnatural enjoyment. whoever accidentally meets the coquero under such circumstances, and by speaking interrupts the effects of this intoxication, is sure to draw upon himself the hatred of the half-maddened creature. the man who is once seized with the passion for this practice, if placed in circumstances which favour its indulgence, is a ruined being. many instances were related to p?ppig while in peru, where young people of the best families, by occasionally visiting the forests, had begun using the coca for the sake of passing the time away, and acquiring a relish for it, from that period been lost to civilization; as if seized by some malevolent instinct, they296 refused to return to their homes, and resisting the entreaties of their friends, who occasionally discovered the haunts of these unhappy fugitives, either retired to some distant solitude, or took the first opportunity of escaping, when they had been brought back to the towns.” so seductive becomes this habit, for we cannot doubt the veracity of these statements, that neither home, nor friends, nor family, nor society, nor fear, nor love, nor respect, nor any other creature, nor passion, would seem to have the power of winning them back from their monomania to a rational state of existence.

the virtues of the coca must be of the most astonishing character. the indians, who are addicted to its use, are declared to be thereby enabled to withstand the toil of the mines amidst noxious metallic exhalations without rest, food, or protection from the climate. they run hundreds of leagues over deserts, and plains, and craggy mountains, sustained only by the coca and a little parched corn; and often too, acting as mules in bearing loads through passes where animals cannot go. some have attributed this frugality and power of endurance to the effects of habit, and not to the use of coca; but the indian is naturally voracious, and it is known that many spaniards were unable to perform the herculean tasks of the peruvians until they habitually used the coca; moreover, it is affirmed, that without it, the indians lose both their vigour and powers of endurance. during the siege of la paz in 1781, when the spaniards were constantly on the watch, and destitute of provisions, in the inclemencies of winter, they were saved, as chroniclers narrate, from disease and death by resorting to this plant. some of those who deny many of the effects, said to be produced by its use, admit that the coca is useful medicinally297 as a preservative against the fevers which are consequent to a climate like that of peru.

hallucinations result from the use of the coca as from that of the narcotic hemp, but not, as it would appear, to the same extent. the inordinate use of this plant, as indeed of all the narcotics, seems to be attended with fearful results. one description with which we are acquainted, gives details of no very desirable character. it affirms that the abuse speedily occasions bodily disease, and detriment to the moral powers, but that still the custom may be persevered in for many years, especially if frequently intermitted, and the coquero sometimes attains the age of fifty with comparatively few complaints. but the oftener the orgies are celebrated, especially in a warm and moist climate, the sooner are their destructive effects made evident. for this reason, the natives of the cold and dry districts of the andes are more addicted to the consumption of coca than those of the close forests, where undoubtedly other stimulants do but take its place. weakness in the digestive organs, which, like most incurable complaints, increases continually in a greater or less degree, first attacks the unfortunate coquero. this complaint, which is called “opilacion,” may be trifling at the beginning, but soon attains an alarming height. then come bilious obstructions, attended with all those thousand painful symptoms which are so much aggravated by a tropical climate, jaundice and derangement of the nervous system follow, along with pains in the head, and such a prostration of strength, that the patient speedily loses all appetite. the whites of the eyes assume a leaden colour, and a total inability to sleep ensues, which aggravates the mental depression of the unhappy individual, who, spite of all his ills, cannot relinquish the use of the herb, to which he owes his298 suffering, but craves brandy in addition. the appetite becomes quite irregular, sometimes failing altogether, and sometimes assuming a wolfish voracity, especially for animal food. thus do years of misery drag on, succeeded at length by a painful death.

this property of dispelling sleep, as a result of the inordinate use of coca, was noticed by weddell, as the result also of the moderate indulgence, by way of experiment, in an infusion of the leaves, and which led him to suppose that the chemical principle of tea, called theine, would be found present in them. professor frémy analyzed them accordingly, but found no such principle present, although an active bitter principle was found, peculiar to this plant, the full properties of which are still unascertained.

coca has the reputed power of sustaining strength in the absence of any other nutriment. the indians declare, that when using it they feel neither the pains of hunger nor of thirst, that they are enabled to perform the most laborious operations with little or no food, insensible either to cold or weariness; that by its use they can ascend the steep passes of the andes, carrying with them heavy loads, and without lassitude or loss of breath. when tschuddi was in the puna, he drank always before going out to hunt, a strong infusion of coca-leaves. then, he states, he could during the whole day climb the heights, and follow the wild animals without experiencing any greater difficulty of breathing than he would have felt in similar movements along the coast. one account states, that a native, who was employed in laborious digging for five days and nights, tasted no food during that period, and only slept two hours each night. he regularly chewed the coca-leaves, to the extent of about half an ounce every two or three hours, and kept a quid of299 them constantly in his mouth. the work being finished, he went a two days’ journey of twenty-three leagues across the level heights, keeping pace with a mule, and only halting to replenish his quid. at the end of all this labour, he was willing to engage for the performance of as much more without food, but with a plentiful allowance of coca. this man was sixty-two years of age, and was never known to have been ill in his life. for this reason, that it appears to act as a substitute for food, several learned and ingenious authors have lamented that it has not been introduced into countries like our own, where it would be a boon so valuable to the poor in times of scarcity and distress.

what says science concerning this extraordinary power? one of two things is certain: either that the coca contains some nutritive principle which directly sustains the strength, or it does not contain it, and, therefore, simply deceives hunger while acting on the system as an excitement. as to the existence of a nutritive principle in coca, although it cannot positively be denied, on account of the quantity of nitrogen, together with assimilable carbonized products, which have been found to exist in the leaf; yet their proportion is so small compared with the mass, and especially with the quantity that a coquero consumes at once, that they can scarcely be taken into consideration. moreover, it has also been affirmed that coca, as it is habitually taken, does not satiate hunger. the indians who accompany travellers, will chew the leaves during the day, but, on the arrival of evening, they will fill their stomachs like fasting men, devouring, at a single meal, enough to satisfy an ordinary man for two days. the indian of the cordillera is like the vulture of his mountains, when provisions abound, he gorges himself greedily, when they are scarce, his robust nature enables300 him to content himself with very little. this is the evidence—what is the verdict? that the use of the coca assists, perhaps, to support the abstinence; but that its action is confined to an excitement of a peculiar kind, very different from that of the ordinary excitants, and especially alcohol. brandy gives strength, but that strength is only a loan, at the expense of strength reserved for the future. the stimulus produced by coca is slow and sustained, in part owing to the manner of its employment, as the infusion acts differently from the leaf as taken in the ordinary way. tea and coffee act specially on the brain, on which they produce an anti-soporific effect; but while coca produces a little of this effect when taken in large doses, it does not act perceptibly upon the brain in small doses. to account for the ordinary effects of the leaf, one must suppose that its action, instead of being localized, as in the case of tea and coffee, is diffused, and bears upon the nervous system generally, producing a sustained stimulus, calculated to impart to those under its influence, that support which has been attributed erroneously to peculiar nutritive properties.

superstition and prejudice combined have, however, ennobled this plant in the mind of the peruvian, and he looks upon it as a true “gift of god.” its influences and effects are magnified in his own mind into something miraculous, and, indeed, miraculous powers have been attributed to it, for in what other light can we regard the belief current amongst them, that if the miner throws the masticated leaves upon the hard and impenetrable veins of metal, the ore will thereby become softened and be more easily worked? or that the leaves when placed in the mouth of a dead person, ensures it a more favourable reception into the world of spirits? or that when a mummy is met301 with disentombed from its narrow home, the presentation of a few leaves propitiates its disengaged spirit, and is accepted as a pious offering?

much of the fidelity of the indian to his coca, as with the smoker to his pipe of tobacco, is due to habit, and in this case the influence of the habit is more powerful, inasmuch as it has been handed down through a long line of ancestors, and is almost the only one which has been preserved. finally, he finds in its use a distraction, and the only one, which breaks the monotony of his existence. the peruvian indians are of a gloomy temperament, and subject to fits of melancholy. when not engaged in out-door work, they will sit in their huts chewing coca and brooding gloomily over their own thoughts; indeed, the combined testimony of travellers establish the fact, that there is in their features an expression of concentrated melancholy, which seems to speak of an undefined but constant suffering; we cannot be astonished at finding such people seeking for comfort in the best substitute for opium that their country will furnish.

coca appears to enjoy an undisputed reign in the cordilleras; no other narcotic starts up to share the throne, and this is almost the only one which has not been imitated, or for which some substitute has not either been proposed or used. the antipodes, or nearly so, of this country possesses a plant, which, had it grown freely in other parts of the world might have been heard of more extensively as an indulgence. in siberia, however, there seems to be little use made of the small indigenous rhododendron, which claims to be one of the most powerful narcotics in the world. steller, the russian botanist, had a tame deer which became so intoxicated by browsing on about ten of its leaves, that, after staggering302 about for some time, it dropped into a deep but troubled sleep for four hours, after which it awoke, apparently free from pain, but would never touch the leaves again. steller’s servants, after this, took to intoxicating themselves with the leaves without any evil effects. we have also been informed that certain of the russians have been charged with the habit of following the example of these experimentalists, by getting drunk upon the leaves, which have been used in infusion, as pallas states, with good effect in the cure of chronic rheumatism. the flowers of another species of rhododendron are eaten as a narcotic by the hill people of india, but in these instances the extent of their use is so small, and the persons indulging in them so few, that no claim can be set up for them, except as minor narcotics occasionally employed, when the other and more important substances cannot readily be obtained.

for the basis of much which this chapter contains, we are indebted to the travels in bolivia and peru of that worthy trio of doctors, p?ppig, weddell, and tschuddi, besides three times as many more, less noted and less known, but whose information was not less to be relied upon on the points concerning which they have spoken. whether the votaries of our lady of yongas are as numerous as has been asserted, or only of the number we have suggested—whether the influence of this plant over the stomachic regions is sufficient to subdue the pangs of hunger, or allay the cruelties of thirst, or these are only effects due to the imagination—whether it has the marvellous power of softening the adamantine rock, or strengthening and supporting the lungs in the ascent of andean summits, or whether these, and all of these, are fictions proceeding from the303 heat-oppressed brain, it is, nevertheless, certain, that a great amount of interest gathers around this plant, which associates itself so intimately with the country in which it flourishes, that, as for centuries past, so for centuries to come, coca will remain the characteristic plant of the peruvian nation, as tea was, and is, of the chinese.