44 COCOA : ALL ABOUT IT. 



" Cocoa passed current as money a mong^ all natio ns ; thus a 

 rabbit in Nicaragua sold for ten Cocoa nibs, and one hundred of 

 these seeds would buy a tolerably good slave." Antonio de 

 Herrera, in his " History of the West Indies," writes : " They 

 were wont to reckon their Cocoa by coultes, xequipiles, and loads, 

 a coulte being 400 nuts, a xequipile 20 coultes, that is 8,000 nuts, 

 and a load three xequipiles, being 24,000 nuts," and speaks of 

 some plunder being seized by Alonzo de Ojeda from Montezuma : 

 "He went thither with fifty persons, who brought away loads of 

 it. The Cocoa was in wicker baskets as big as wine fats, which 

 six men could not grasp, being plaistered both within and without, 

 these baskets being used like bins for Indian wheat and other 

 grain. Six hundred loads were taken away that night, and only 

 six baskets emptied." 



Torquemada has extracted the particulars of the yearly 

 expenditure of the palace from the royal account book, which 

 came into Prescott's possession. 



The following are some of the items. A fanega, it may be 

 explained, is about 100 pounds : — 



4,900,300 fanegas of maize. 

 2,744,000 „ „ Cocoa. 



Items of the tribute furnished by different cities — 



20 Chests of ground Chocolate. 



80 Loads of red Chocolate. 



800 Xicaras — (out of which they drink Chocolate). 

 200 Loads of Chocolate. 



20 Bags Gold Dust. 



20 Lip Jewels of clear amber, ornamented with gold, &c., &c. 



It may be as well to explain here that the word " Chocolate" 

 IS of Mexican origin, being derived from "chocolatl." Murray, in 



