344 A VOYAGE TO Book VI. 



knowledge, and observation, that he may avoid what- 

 ever is hurtful to his being; and the irrational species 

 receive the like notices from instinct, and are not less 

 observant thai-, man. The people who travel along 

 these valleys, where they are so much in danger of 

 these coyas, according to the warning before given 

 them by the Indians who attend them, though they feel 

 something stinging them or crawling on their neck or 

 face, are careful not to scratch the part, nor even so 

 much as lift up their hands to it, the coya being of 

 such a delicate texture that it would immediately 

 burst : and as there is no danger whilst they do not 

 eject the humour in them, the person acquaints some 

 one of the company with what he feels, and points 

 to the place ; if it be a coya, the other blows it away. 

 The beasts, who are not capable of such warning, are 

 yet by instinct taught a precaution against the danger 

 which may result from these insects in the pastures ; 

 for before they offer to touch the herbage, they blow 

 on it with all their force in order to disperse any of 

 these pernicious I'ermin ; and when their smell ac- 

 quaints them that they are near a nest of coyas, they 

 immediately leap back and run to some other part. 

 Thus they secure themselves from the venom of these 

 insects, though sometimes a mule, after all its blow- 

 ing, has been known to take in some with its pasture, 

 on which, after swelling to a frightful degree, they 

 have expired on the spot. 



Among the plants of the country of Popayan, in 

 the jurisdiction of Timana, grows the cuca or coca, 

 an herb so esteemed by the Indians in some provinces 

 of Peru, that they would part with any kind of pro- 

 visions, the most valuable metals, gems, or any thing 

 else, rather than w^nt it. It grows on a weak stem, 

 which for support twists itself round another stronger 

 vegetable, like the vine. Its leaf is about an inch and 

 a half or two inches in length, and extremely smooth; 

 the use the Indians make of it is for chewing, mixing 



it 



