570 



THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



in Southern Asia. As an instance of the wonderful strengthening properties of the 

 coca, Tschudi mentions the case of an Indian called Hatuu Huamang or the '* Great 

 Vulture," whom he employed during five consecutive days and nights in making the 

 most laborious excavations, and who never ate anything all the time, or slept more than 

 two hours a night. But every three hours he chewed about half an ounce of the leaves, 

 and constantly kept his acullico in his mouth. When the work was finished, this Indian 

 accompanied Tschudi during a ride of twenty-three leagues, over the high mountain- 

 plains, constantly running alongside of the nimbly-pacing mule, and never resting but 

 for the purpose of preparing an acullico. When they separated, the *' Great Vulture " 

 told Tschudi that he would willingly do the same work over again, provided only he 

 had a plentiful allowance of coca. He was sixty-two years old, according to the testi- 

 mony of the village priest, and had never been ill all his life. 



Tschudi often found that coca is the best preservative against the asthmatic symp- 

 toms which are produced by the rapid ascension of high mountains. While hunting 

 in the Puna, at an elevation of 14,000 feet above the level of the sea, he 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. Even after drinking a very strong infusion, he 

 never experienced^ any symptoms of cerebral excitement, but a feeling of satiety, and 

 though he took nothing else at the time, his appetite returned only after a longer 

 interval than usual. 



If the moderate use of coca is thus beneficial in many respects, its abuse is attended 

 with the same deplorable consequences as those which 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 voluntarily 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 who 

 first discovered the hidden virtues of its leaves. When Pizarro destroyed the empire 

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

 Incas, and that it was used in all public ceremonies, either for fumigation or as an 

 offering to the gods. The priests chewed coca while performing their rites, and the 



