180 THE TROnCAL WORLD. 



and the obstinate obstructions caused by these mealy aliments 

 are obviated by the tonic effects of the coca, which thus removes 

 the cause of many maladies. 



Tschudi often found coca the best preservative against the 

 asthmatic symptoms which are produced by the rapid ascension 

 of high mountains. While hunting in the Puna, 14,000 feet 

 above the level of the sea, lie always drank a strong infusion of 

 coca before starting, and was then able to climb among the 

 rocks, and to pursue his game, without any greater difficulty in 

 breathing than would have been the case upon the coast. 



If the moderate use of coca is thus beneficial in many 

 respects, its abuse is attended with the same deplorable conse- 

 quences as those whicli are observed in the oriental opium- 

 eaters and smokers, or in our own incorrigible drunkards. 



The confirmed coca-chewer, or coquero, is known at once by 

 his uncertain step, his sallow complexion, his hollow, lack-lustre 

 black-rimmed eyes, deeply sunk in the head, his trembling lips, 

 his incoherent speech, and his stolid apathy. His character is 

 irresolute, suspicious, and false ; in the prime of life, he has all 

 the appearances of senility, and in later years sinks into 

 complete idiocy. Avoiding the society of man, he seeks the 

 dark forest, or some solitary ruin, and there, for days together, 

 indulges in his pernicious habit. While under the influence 

 of coca, his excited fancy riots in the strangest visions, now 

 revelling in pictures of ideal beauty, and then haunted by 

 dreadful apparitions. Secure from intrusion, he crouches in an 

 obscure corner, his eyes immovably fixed upon one spot ; and 

 the almost automatic motion of the hand raising the coca to 

 the mouth, and its mechanical chewing, are the only signs of 

 consciousness which he exhibits. Sometimes a deep groan 

 escapes from his breast, most likely when the dismal solitude 

 around him inspires his imagination with some terrific vision, 

 which he is as little able to banish as volunturily to dismiss his 

 dreams of ideal felicity. How the coquero finally awakens 

 from his trance, Tschudi was never able to ascertain, though 

 most likely the complete exhaustion 'of his supply at length 

 forces him to return to his miserable hut. 



No historical record informs us when the use of the coca was 

 introduced, or wlio first discovered the hidden virtues of its 

 leaves. W^hen Pizarro destroyed the empire of Atahualpa he 

 found that it played an important part in the religious rites of 



