THE COCA-SHRUB. 185 



Indian reckons its habitual use among the prime necessaries of 

 life, and is never seen without a leathern pouch filled with a 

 provision of the leaves, and containing besides a small box of 

 powdered unslaked lime. At least three times a day he rests 

 from his work to chew his indispensable coca. Carefully 

 taking a few leaves out of the bag, and removing their midribs, 

 he first masticates them in the shape of a small ball, which is 

 called an acullico ; then repeatedly inserting a thin piece of 

 moistened wood like a toothpick into the box of unslaked lime, 

 he introduces the powder which remains attached to it into the 

 acullico until the latter has acquired the requisite flavour. The 

 saliva, which is abundantly secreted while chewing the pungent 

 mixture, is mostly swallowed along with the green juice of the 

 plant. 



When the acullico is exhausted, another is immediately 

 prepared, for one seldom suffices. The corrosive sharpness of 

 the unslaked lime requires some caution, and an unskilled 

 coca-chewer runs the risk of burning his lips, as, for instance, 

 the celebrated traveller Tschudi, who, by the advice of his 

 muleteer, while crossing the high mountain-passes of the Andes, 

 attempted to make an acullico, and instead of strengthening 

 himself as he expected, merely added excruciating pain to the 

 fatigues of the journey. 



The taste of coca is slightly bitter and ar<>matic, like that of 

 bad green tea, but the addition of lime, or of the sharp ashes of 

 the quinoa, renders it less disagreeable to the European palate. 



It is a remarkable fact that the Indians who regularly use 

 coca require but little food, and when the dose is augmented 

 are able to undergo the greatest fatigues without tasting 

 almost anything else. Professor Poppig ascribes this astonish- 

 ing increase of endurance to a momentary excitement, which 

 must necessarily be succeeded by a corresponding collapse, and 

 therefore considers the use of coca absolutely hurtful. Tschudi, 

 however, is of opinion that its moderate consumption, far from 

 being injurious, is, on the contrary, extremely wholesome, and 

 cites the examples of several Indians who, never allowing a day 

 to pass without chewing their coca, attained the truly patri- 

 archal age of one hundred and thirty years. The ordinary 

 food of these people consists almost exclusively of roasted 

 maize or barley, which is eaten dry without any other addition : 



