and few Indians ever make a long trip through the forest 
or by canoe without carrying two or three pieces. Yoco is 
cut from wild lianas chiefly. I have never seen Paullinia 
Yoco cultivated, but Padre Javier de Quito, a missionary 
who has spent nearly forty years in the Putumayo, in- 
forms me that occasionally a plant may be found under 
cultivation in an Indian clearing. In 1906, Bayon re- 
ported that the Indians of the Caqueta ‘‘cultivate it 
with care.” 
Because of the great demand for yoco, wild plants of 
Paullinia Yoco are becoming hard to find wherever there 
are Indian settlements. It is believed that scarcity of yoco 
is one of the causes of the occasional abandonment of ex- 
cellent town-sites by an entire village of Indians, al- 
though epidemics account for most of these town-migra- 
tions. The Kofans of Puerto Ospina informed me that 
there is not a sufficient supply of yoco nearer than twenty 
kilometers and that the only remedy will be to move the 
village nearer to the wild supply. At the present time, 
an Indian from the vicinity of Puerto Ospina must make 
a long day’s trip in order to reach a region where plants 
of yoco are growing and, after arriving, must search to 
find a liana suitable for felling. 
Lianas of Paullinia Yoco which have a stout stem at 
least three inches in diameter at the base are utilized 
(plate xxviii, upper figure). Usually several trees must 
be felled before the liana falls to the ground. Starting at 
the root, the stem is then cut into pieces which may vary 
from one to three feet in length. These pieces are stored 
in cool corners of Indian houses (plate xxviii, lower fig- 
ure) and retain their stimulating properties for a month 
or even longer. 
In the preparation of the beverage from the yoco stems, 
the epidermis, cortex and phloem (all of the softer tissues 
external to the xylem) are rasped (plate xxix, upper fig- 
[ 822 
