COCA 87 



the drug is noted also by the Jesuit Father Bias Valera 

 under the name Cuoa. After observing the methods of 

 the Jesuit explorers, he writes as follows: 



"It may be gathered how powerful the Cuca is in its 

 effect on the laborer, from the fact that the Indians who 

 use it become stronger and much more satisfied, and 

 work all day without eating." 



In further support of this phase of the coca subject, 

 Dr. Poeppig, in the beginning of the last century, 

 records as follows, in his work on Chili and Peru: 



"The miner will perform, for twelve long hours, the 

 formidably heavy work of the mine, and, sometimes, 

 even doubles that period, without taking any further 

 sustenance than a handful of parched maize, but every 

 three hours he makes a pause for the purpose of chewing 

 Coca (coquear). He would work ill and reluctantly, if 

 the proprietor let him want his favorite herb. . . . The 

 same holds good with the Indian, who, as a porter, mes- 

 senger, or vender of his own productions, traverses the 

 Andes on foot. Merely chewing Coca from time to 

 time, he travels with a load weighing one hundred- 

 weight on his back, over indescribably rough roads, and 

 accomplishes frequently ten leagues in eight hours. 

 During the Revolutionary War, the undisciplined Pa- 

 triot troops, chiefly consisting of Indians from the 

 Sierra, by dint of ample supplies of Coca and brandy, 

 traversed long distances in a very short time, and thus 

 became very dangerous to the Spaniards. Where Eu- 

 ropeans would have halted and bivouacked, the ill-clad, 

 barefooted Indians merely paused, for a short interval, 

 to chew their Coca." From the "Reise in Chile, Peru," 

 etc. of Dr. Poeppig. Companion to the Botanical Maga- 

 zine, by W. J. Hooker. 



