THE HOME OF THE INDIAN WEED 41 



commonly adopted by the Caribs of preparing and using it. 

 During his tenure of office in the West Indies he collected 

 an immense amount of information relating to the inhabi- 

 tants, their country and its products, the results of which he 

 published in 1526, under the title of Historia nahcral y 

 general de las Indias. In the Seville edition of 1535 is an 

 engraving of the smoking instrument used by the Caribs. 

 It is of the form already described. Oviedo says of it that 

 ' it is about a span long ; when used the forked ends are in- 

 serted in the nostrils, the other end being applied to the 

 burning leaves of the herb. In this manner they inhale the 

 smoke until they become stupefied. And when forked 

 canes cannot be procured, they make use of a straight reed 

 or hollow cane, and this implement is called iahaco by the 

 Indians.' Oviedo speaks disparagingly of the smoking 

 habit, and classes it amongst their evil customs as a thing 

 very pernicious, and done in order to produce insensibility. 

 Remarking on the prevalence of the habit, he says that the 

 consumption of tobacco by the various tribes of the Indians 

 is of universal and immemorial usage, in many cases bound 

 up with the most significant and solemn tribal ceremonies. 

 No matters of importance to the tribe or the family can be 

 conducted, no compact can be held binding, that has not 

 been ratified by the passage of the great pipe, be it the pipe 

 of peace or the pipe of war — the calumet or the tomahawk — 

 from the lips of one chief to those of the others of the con- 

 ference. The pipe, then, is their great seal, the solemn 

 pledge of friendship, good faith, and such qualities as the 

 chivalry of the forest suggests to the untutored mind. Al- 

 though Oviedo regards unfavourably the practice of smoking, 

 he evidently prized the plant, as we read that on his return 

 home he cultivated it in his private gardens. This is but 

 one step removed from its enjoyment in the pipe, and who 



