- do climbing plants attempt to extend 
‘their sway over the plantations of Coca, 
into which they insinuate themselves from 
- the neighbouring woods. The labour of 
removing these various weeds is extreme, 
and care must be taken afterwards to loosen 
the soil and render it perfectly level, so 
that no water may collect in the hollows, 
and injure the delicate roots. Many peo- 
ple plant Maize in the first year, between 
the young shrubs, but as this soon exhausts 
the soil, it is replaced by the useful Bottle 
Gourd. The time of gathering the leaves 
depends on the greater or less richness of 
the soil; on the best land it may take place 
in three years, but in poorer situations only 
at five years’ end. The full-grown shrub 
affords a harvest every thirteen or fourteen 
months, but as the ripeness of the leaves 
depends very much on situation and the 
age of the plants, so in large plantations 
the collecting of them goes on throughout 
. the whole year. The only means of ascer- 
taining the maturity of the leaves is by 
examining their stiffness; if they bend 
. when taken hold of, they are considered 
too young, colour and size determining no- 
thing. If, on the contrary, the leaves break, 
the gathering must not be delayed, or the 
rub will throw them off of itself. The 
mode of gathering them is, to grasp the 
twigs in both hands, and strip off the foli- 
age with some force, a labour that even 
| wounds the hard skin of the natives. There 
; is a prejudice in favour of drying the Coca 
_ inthe sun, perhaps arising from the indo- 
. lence of the people, who resist every thing 
new. Before each dwelling-house to which 
a Cocal is attached, a place (Area) made 
Smooth, is seen, it is either imperfectly co- 
vered with a wooden floor, or firmly stamp- 
ed down, but being exposed to the weather, 
and a rendezvous for the domestic animals, 
Xt is generally in a very bad state. Here 
But in a country where rain is so 
- frequent, that weeks often pass without the 
_ Sun’s appearing, where the sky is often long 
nope in thick fogs and clouds, and the 
a ct aL 17 ^ i 7 NEN 
AND PROPERTIES OF THE COCA. 
_ the leaves are spread on sunny days to be. 
. dried 
167 
very inefficient. The Peruvians, however, 
are not yet arrived at the idea of building 
those Secaderos in which the Coffee is 
dryed at Cuba, nor, what would be still 
better, of employing a moderate and well- 
regulated degree of artificial heat within 
small houses erected for the purpose. The | 
greatest vigilance, the utmost despatch in 
snatching up and carrying away the out- 
spread leaves of Coca, cannot always pre- 
vent their being damaged by wet, and 
sometimes they spoil by being kept within 
doors, waiting for such weather as would 
enable them to be laid out. In this way, 
large sums are annually lost, for when once 
'the leaves turn black, and shrink in conse- 
quence of moisture, they become unsale- 
able, having lost their flavour. 1f, under 
day, the article is esteeme 
is eagerly sought for, and fetches a high 
price. In this state, the leaf is of a beau- 
tiful bright-green, and quite smooth ; the 
browner and less quickly dried kinds are 
cheaper. Finally, the well-prepared Coca. 
is wrapped up in large woollen cloths, and 
deposited for a time in the house, but the 
more this period is shortened, the better, 
as a few weeks of wet weather will spoil 
the colour even of what is thus secured - 
from the immediate action of the atmo- 
sphere; for which reason the natives send 
their goods as quickly as possible from the 
vicinity of the damp woods. Immediately 
before despatching the Coca, it is pressed, 
by dint of treading, into sacks made of a 
coarse striped woollen stuff, manufactured 
for the purpose by the Indians of Conchu- 
cos; each of these, which is called a ter- 
cio, weighs, while in the forest, 80lbs, but 
loses 10 per cent. in the course of a few — 
weeks after its arrival at Huanuco, in con- 
sequence of the greater dryness of the air - 
there. To prevent, in part, this heavy loss, _ 
the seller hastens to carry his Coca tothe _ 
somewhat moister climate of the Andes. 
If well packed, the leaf is not apt to turn 
black, but inattention on the day of send- - 
ing it away, or neglecting the Laien cns : 
of securing the tercios from the ni 
EE 
