68 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF DISTANT LANDS 



familiar. Of cacao (our cocoa) Acosta says that it was 

 much used in Mexico for the making of chocolate, which 

 had been a favourite drink long before the arrival of the 

 Spaniards ; it was not grown in Mexico, but imported 

 from Central America ; cocoa-seed passed as money 

 among the Indians. Chili peppers (Capsicum) were 

 a favourite condiment, added to many dishes. The 

 leaves of the Peruvian coca (Erythroxylon) were chewed 

 as a stimulant, like the betel of equatorial Asia. The 

 Mexican pulque, the fermented juice of the agave, is 

 described. Prickly pears and the cochineal which is 

 found on them, the iron-wood which sinks in water, and 

 the brazil-wood used in dyeing are among the curiosities 

 of which Acosta speaks. The Indians grew pulse, 

 whether native or introduced from Europe Acosta does 

 not know. Ginger had been already brought from the 

 East Indies to Hispaniola, where it multiplied greatly, 

 and the sugar-cane was extensively planted in Peru, 

 Mexico and the West Indian Islands ; the canes were 

 crushed by machinery. 



In the passion-flower people found emblems of the 

 crucifixion ; Acosta remarks that they were not wholly 

 wrong, but that some piety is required to believe it all. 



Monkeys, Acosta says that he saw on the isthmus of 

 Panama monkeys tying themselves together by their 

 tails for the purpose of crossing a river. This story, 

 retold by UUoa,^ who gives an engraving of the monkey- 

 chain, has been repeated in many popular books of 

 natural history. Humboldt^ says that though he had 

 opportunities of observing thousands of the howler- 

 monkey, which is named as forming a chain, he places 

 no confidence in such tales. 



1 Viage a la America meridional. Madrid. 1748. Vol. T, pp. 144-9. 

 "^Personal Narrative^ Eng. Trans., Vol. II, p. 264. 



I 



