85 



Possibilities or C'()l\. 



It is probable that, at the present time, even allowing for a 

 great increase of the demand from Europe for Cola, the introduc- 

 tion of its cultivation in a new country would not be without some 

 risk, except on a limited scale. But it is not impossible to con- 

 ceive in the future, a vast increase in the use of Cola, in these 

 countries, should the natives acquire, as they do, almost to a man, 

 in West Afri(-a, and right away north, in Morocco, and Tripoli, a 

 taste for the Cola nut, as a sut)stitute for the betel-nut. We have 

 in the Countries round us, millions of people who chew the betel- 

 nut and we know how assiduously and how laboriously the practice 

 is carried on. Avhen a ])erfect quid is desired. 



Ko doubt the areca-nut is not without its virtues: it is re- 

 garded l)y some, as a prophylactic against dysentery: like Cola, it 

 provokes salivation and therel)y allays thirst: it sweetens the 

 breath, although it blackens the teeth : these are virtues enough to 

 •explain the use of the betel-nut throughout Eastern Countries, 

 But it has none of the exhilarating and sustaining ])owers, against 

 times of stress, which the Cola nut owes to its component alcaloids 

 caffeine, theobromine and betai'n — to say nothing of the nourish- 

 ment which its high starch-c-ontent affords. 



Pkopektiks of Cola. 



We have all heard of the ])ropcrty of Cola, of making palatable 

 muddy or polluted water ; of its well-nigh marvelous effects in 

 allaying the cravings of hunger and of thirst, and enabling those 

 who eat it to endure prolonged effort, physical or mental, without 

 fatigue. The following extracts of a letter of the British Consul 

 at Bahia. to the Manpiis of Salisbury, then Foreign Secretary, 

 puts these things in a graphic form : 



Bahia, Sept. 6th, 1890. 

 My Lord, 



" I have tlie lionour to bring under your Lordship's notice. . . . 

 '"' the great powers of endurance and strength in lifting heavy loads 

 " and transporting them to long distances, in this tropical climate, 

 " possessed by the West African negroes in these parts, which 



" personal observation enables me to attribute to the free use 



^' of the Kola bean. The West African carriers at this port, who 

 ^' use Kola, are not physically superior to the Brazilian negro, and 

 ^' yet the African, through constantly masticating Kola, can endure 

 ■" labour and fatigue which no Brazilian can withstand, and where 

 "^ it takes S Brazilian negroes to carry a load with difficulty, 4 

 ■" African porters carry it cheerfully, almost always, even when 

 " ascending a hill, singing and clianting the whole time, as they 

 *'' trudge along, but never without a bit of Kola bean in their 

 "mouths. The Brazilian spends in rum,. .. .three times what the 

 " African lays out daily in Kola nuts, which are not intoxicating — 

 " not injurious in any way, act as a nutritive, quench thirst and 

 '^' produce vigour and freshness. 



" I have seen a bag of sugar of 80 Kilos (179 pounds English) 

 "" carried by an aged African negro, after biting a piece of Kola 



