Part 26 (1/2)
I have said all ate of the supper This is not strictly true One of the party did not touch it, and that was old Guapo Why? Was he not hungry like the rest? Yes; as hungry as any of them Why then did he not eat of the _charqui_ and ocas? Simply because Guapo had a supper of a very different kind, which he carried in his pouch, and which he liked much better than the charqui stew What was it? It was ”coca”
”Chocolate,” you will say, or, as some call it, ”cocoa,” which should be called, to name it properly, ”cacao” No, I answer--it was not chocolate, nor cocoa, nor cacao neither
”It must have been cocoa-nuts then?” No; nor yet cocoa-nuts The ”coca,”
upon which Guapo made his supper, and which contented his stoht, was an article very different from either the cacao which makes chocolate, or the nut of the cocoa-pal it was, and I shall tell you at once
The coca is a srows in the war the Andes mountains Its botanical naht green colour, and its blossoms white Its fruits are very small scarlet berries It is a native plant, and, therefore, found in a wild state; but it is cultivated by the planters of these countries in fields regularly laid out, and hence called ”cocales” This plant is raised froht of about eighteen inches, they are transplanted and put down again at the distance of about a foot apart from each other
Now as these little bushes require a humid atmosphere, maize-plants are sown between the rows to protect them from the sun In other places arbours of palm-leaves are constructed over the coca-plants When no rain falls, they are watered every five or six days After about two and a half years of this nursing, the coca-bush is ready for use, and it is the leaves alone that are valuable These are gathered with great care, just as the Chinese gather the leaves of the tea-plant; and, as in China, women are principally employed in this labour The leaves are said to be ripe, not when they have withered and turned brown, but at a period when they are full-grown and become brittle When this period arrives, they are picked from the tree, and laid out on coarse woollen cloths to dry in the sun
When dried, they re the process, they become darker, and are then of inferior quality, and sell for a less price When fully dried, they are carefully packed in bags and covered up with dry sand, and are thus ready for the market Their price, on the spot where the crop is produced, is about one shi+lling English per pound They are, therefore, full as costly to produce as tea itself, although the coca-bush will yield three crops of leaves in one year--that is, a crop every four months; and one hundred plants will produce about an arroba (25 lbs) at a crop The coca-plant will continue to give fresh leaves for a long period of years, unless attacked and destroyed by ants, which is not unfrequently the case
Nohy have I so minutely described the coca-bush? Because, that, in the economy of the life of those Indians who inhabit the countries of the Andes mountains, this curious plant plays a most important part
Scarcely one of these people is to be met ho is not an eater of cocoa--a ”coquero” With them it is what the tea-tree is to the Chinese
Indeed, it is a curious fact, that in all parts of the world soetable is used by the human race Tea in China; the betel-leaf, and the nut of the areca pal the Southern Asiatics; the poppy in the East; with tobacco, and s, in other countries
But the coca not only supplies the Indian with a solace to his cares, it forms the chief article of his food With a supply of coca, an Indian will support hi else The poor miners, in the Peruvian ed that, without coca, they would be unable to undergo the painful toil to which their calling subjects them When used to excess, the coca produces deleterious effects on the human system; but, if moderately taken, it is far more innocent in its results than either opium or tobacco
The coca-leaf is not eaten alone A certain preparation is necessary, and another substance is mixed with it before it produces the proper effect But let us watch the movements of Guapo, and we shall see how _he_ does it, for Guapo is a confirmed coquero
Guapo, true to his promise, does not sleep under the molle trees He leaves the party, and, with a melancholy air, has cli rock, where he intends to pass the night His last glance at Don Pablo and his faain remonstrated with his hed at the earnestness of the old Indian, and told hio to his perch and leave the party to theht when Guapo cliainst the sky his tall, lank form could be traced in all its outlines For some moments he sat in a serious and reflective hts about the ”poison-trees” His appetite, however, soon got the better of him; and he set to work to prepare his coca supper It was a si a small pouch made of the skin of the chinchilla, which beautiful little animal is a native of these parts
This pouch contained a quantity of the dry leaves of the coca Having taken out some half-dozen of these leaves, he put the theue, teeth, and lips, they were formed into a little ball of pulp, that rolled about in his mouth Another step in the process now beca around Guapo's neck by a thong, was laid hold of This was corked with a wooden stopper, in which stopper a wire pin was fixed, long enough to reach down to the botto out the stopper, Guapo applied the lower part of the pin to his lips, and then, plunging it once ain This ti to the part that had been wetted Noas this powder? It was nothing else than lime that had been burned, and pulverised Perhaps it was the ashes of the molle tree, of which we have already spoken, and which, as we have said, possess a highly alkaline property The ashes of the musa, or plaintain, are sometimes used; but, after all, it is most likely that it was the hly esteemed by the Indians of Southern Peru; and Guapo was a connoisseur in coca-eating
Whichever of the three it was--lime, molle, or musa--Guapo carried the pin to hishis lips (it would have burnt him if he had), he inserted it, so as to penetrate the ball of chewed cocoa-leaves that rested upon the tip of his tongue This was stabbed repeatedly and adroitly by the pin, until all the powder remained in the coca-ball; and then the pin ithdraiped, and restored to its place, along with the stopper of the gourd
Guapo now re” for a period of about fortya mess of cocoa-leaves Indeed, so exactly is this ti, measure distances by it; and one ”coceada” is about equal to the tilishfinished, he drew his llaainst the rock, was soon buried in a profound slumber
CHAPTER V
THE PUNA
By early dawn Guapo ake, but he did not immediately awake the others It was still too dark to follow the mountain road His first care was to have his coca breakfast, and to this he applied himself at once
Day was fairly broke when he had ended the process offrom the rock to arouse the sleepers He knew they still slept, as no voice had yet issued fro the grass, and the lla upon an open spot,--the first they had eaten since their halt, as these creatures do not browse in the night
Guapo descended with fear in his heart Hoould have joyed him to hear the voice of his master, or of any of them! But, no Not a sound proceeded froe, th he reached the spot
All asleep?--yes, all! ”Are they dead?” thought Guapo, and his heart beat with anxiety Indeed, they seeue of travel had cast a sickly paleness over the faces of all, and one er lived But they breathed ”Yes, they breathe!”
ejaculated the old Indian, half aloud ”They live!”
Guapo bent down, and seizing Don Pablo by the ar, at the sa nor the voice had any effect Guapo shook more violently, and shouted louder Still Don Pablo slept None of the others e, for the Indian knew that Don Pablo himself, as well as the others, were easily awaked on ordinary occasions Guapo, beco alarmed, now raised his voice to its loudest pitch, at the sa Don Pablo's shoulder in a still more violent manner This had the desired effect The sleeper awoke but so slowly, and evidently with such exertion, that there was so mysterious in it