Oct, I, 1864.] THE TECHNOLOGIST. 



PRODUCTS OF THE MONTANA OF PERU. 121 



are not yet very precisely determined, however it may be said that it is 

 bounded on the north by the Republic of Ecuador, to the east by the 

 Empire of Brazil, to the south by the departments of Cuzco, Ayacucho, 

 and Junin, and to the west by the departments of Junin, Libertad, and 

 Amazonas. 



Province of Loreto. — The productions of this province have a similar 

 character to those of the department of Amazonas, some, however, have 

 a distinct one ; for this reason, and for circumstances connected with 

 them, such as the use that is made of them, and their disposal by way 

 of commerce, it Will be necessary to notice a few in detail, at the risk, 

 it may be, of some repetition. For this purpose I shall avail myself of 

 a little book written by Sehor Raimondi upon this province, so far as it 

 relates to productions and commerce. 



Products of Loreto. — The plantano or plantain, of which there is a 

 great variety, serves instead of bread, of which there is none in the 

 province, on account of the difficulties of transport. Flour therefore 

 would, at once, be in great demand there. 



Yuca (Manihot aipi, Pohl), or Cassava, is another vegetable indis- 

 pensable to the inhabitants, used also in place of bread, and for various 

 other economic purposes. 



Sugar-cane. This plant is not cultivated in Loreto for the purpose 

 of extracting sugar, an article scarcely known in this part of Peru, but 

 to obtain aguadiente, of which the natives are very fond. 



The sugar-cane grows in the province with the greatest luxuriance, 

 and it is sufficient to plant it once to have constant yields from the roots. 

 It is very common to see roots of this vegetable with more than twenty 

 vigorous cane-stalks. It promptly develops itself, and ripens at the end 

 of six or seven months' planting. Rice and maize grow abundantly at 

 the end of six months from their plantation. 



Coca (Erythroxilon Coca, Lamark) is cultivated in all the villages 

 along the banks of the Huallaga, and is of good quality ; it yields six 

 crops a year, that is, one every two months. 



This is not the place, perhaps, to comment upon this plant, but it 

 deserves to be more generally known on account of its extraordinary 

 qualities. A Peruvian will endure the severest labour whilst chewing 

 the leaves of this plant, accompany a horse or mule for days together up 

 hill and down, and through the deepest sand, without scarcely any other 

 refreshment than chewing coca. Its effects are said to be truly surprising 

 upon the human organisation. Tea, or a decoction of the leaves of this 

 plant, is found to be a most wholesome and refreshing beverage, and very 

 agreeable. Superficial travellers have decried coca, but more than one 

 European has experienced its beneficial effects in the Sierra. For the 

 poorer classes at home it would form, if needful, an excellent substitute 

 for tea, or for tobacco-chewing. 



Tobacco is cultivated the whole length of the Huallaga, and yields 



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