36 TOBACCO IN MEXICO. 
of a native smoking one of these rolls or primitive cigars 
and speaks of their general use by Captains of ships trading 
to the West Indies. 
But not only was snuff taking and the use of tobacco rolls 
or cigars noted by European voyagers, but the use of the pipe 
also in some parts of America, seemed to be a common cus- 
tom especially among the chiefs. Be Bry in his History of 
Brazil (1590) describes its use and also some interesting 
particulars concerning the plant. Their method of curing 
the leaves was to air-dry them and then packing them until 
wanted for use. In smoking he says :— 
“When the leaves are well dried they place in the open 
part of a pipe of which on burning, the smoke is inhaled 
into the mouth by the more narrow part of the pipe, and so 
strongly that it flows out of the mouth and nostrils, and by 
that means effectually drives out humours.” 
Fairholt in alluding to the various uses of the herb among 
the Indians says :— 
“We can thus trace to South America, at the period when 
the New World was first discovered, every mode of using the 
tobacco plant which the Old World has indulged in ever 
since.” 
This statement is not entirely correct—the mode of using 
_tobacco in Norway by plugging the nostrils with small pieces 
of tobacco seems to have been unknown among the Indians 
of America as it is now with all other nationalities, excepting 
the Norwegians. 
' When Cortez made conquest of Mexico in 1519 smoking. 
seemed to be a common as well as an ancient custom among 
the natives. Benzoni in his History of the New World* 
describing his travels in America gives a detailed account of 
the plant and their method of curing and using it. In both 
North and South America the use of tobacco seemed to be 
universal among all the tribes and beyond all question the 
custom of using the herb had its origin among them. The 
traditions of the Indians all confirm its ancient source ; they 
considered the plant as a gift from the Great Spirit for their 
* From 1541 to 1556. 
