March i, 1S95.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
579 
material, and large quantities are used by the 
Indian paper mills. In sirae parts of India the 
seeds of the sin are collected and given toeattL. 
The plant its 3 1 f is found to be very nourishing, 
causing cows to give a larger supply of milk. — 
Journal of the Society of Arts. 
COCA CULTIVATION. 
Coca. — S nee the coca leaf, another South American 
product, h*s been proved to possess great medicinal 
virtues, coca cultivation has become a subject well 
worthy of careful consideration by Indian and 
Colonial administrators. In years now long gone 
by, I had opportunities of learning sometbing of 
that cultivation and of experiencing the effects of 
the coca leaf ; so it will perhaps be considered that 
from eome points of view, I may venture to address 
ycu as an authority on the subject. Since the dis- 
covery of the a'kaloid, coca has become an impor- 
tant addition to the pharmacopoeia; but it should 
be remembered that it had been for centuries a 
great source of comfort and enjoyment to the Peru- 
vitn Indians. It was much more than what betr-1 
is to the Hindu, k iva to he S mth Sea Islander, and 
tobacco to the rest of mankind, for its u e really 
produces invigorat'ng effects which are no' possessed 
by those other stimulants or narcotics. 
Gowletf on the Coca Leaf. — Made known in this 
cuntry to the very students who were acquainted 
with the Spanish Chronicles during the 17th centur , 
it is very curious to rind that coca, and ts vir ues, 
were within the knowledge of Abraham Cow ey, the 
p et of the days of Charles I. Mr. Martindale, who 
has written ai excellent little book on coca and 
c icaine, refers to a very curious allusion to coca in 
the writings of Cowley {Booh V. of Plmtits). Bacchus 
is supposed to have filled a bowl with the juice of the 
grape for Omelichilu 1 , an imaginary American deity ; 
on which the e< d of the New Worid summons his 
own plants to appear. Various fruits are marshalled 
on their branches, and Cowley, even ad Is to his 
poetic description of the virtnes of coca a prophecy 
which has now become true. Apostrophising the 
leaf, he says: — 
" N r Coca only usefu' art at home, 
A famous merchandise thou art become." 
Prejudice against Coca. — The Peruvians have used 
the coca leaf from ti e most ai cient times. It was 
considered so precious that it was included in the 
sacrifices that were offere t 'o the Sun, and the High 
Pr est chewed coca during the ceremony. Mitimaes 
or colonists, « ere sent down from their native heights 
among the Andes, to cultivate the coca p ants in the 
deep valleys to the eastward, and the leaves were 
brought up for the use of the Inert 1 of Peru. After 
the c nquest of P.m. by the Spaniards, some fanatics 
proposed to proscribe its use and to root np the plants 
be-anse tl e leaves had been used in the ancient 
superstitions, and 1> cause the cultivation took away 
the Indians from other work. The second Cjuncil 
of Lima, which Bat in 1569, condemned the use of 
coca "as a useless and ui rnicioua leaf and oi 
account of the belief stated to be entertained by 
the Indians that the habit of chewing coca gave 
them powers of endurance, which," said these sapie t 
Bishops, "is an illus on of the tvil one." 
Ai.r,;h>tr respect iini Coca. — The learned Jesnit Acosta 
and the eh'oiiieler ( 1 ircilasso de la Vega, however, bear 
very different testimony. In speaking of the strength 
and endurance that coca give' to those who chew 
it, Garcilasso relates the fo lowing anecdote: — "I 
remember," he says, "an incident which I heard 
of a gentleman oi rank and honour i > my native 
land of Peru, named Hodrigo Pantoja. Travelling 
from Cuzco to Lima bo met a poor Spaniard who 
was toing on f>ot wi'h a little girl on his back. 
The man was known to Pantoja, and they thus con- 
verged: "Why do you go laden thu9 ?' said the 
Knight. The poor man said that lie was unable 
to hire an Indian to crrry the child, an! for that 
reason ho carried it himself. While he spoke, Pan- 
toja looked in his mouth, and aaw that it was full 
of cora. As the Spaniards abominated all that the 
Indians est and drink, as though they savoured of 
idolatry, particularly the chf-wing of coca, which 
seemed to them a low and vile habit, he said — ' It 
may be as you say, but why do you chew coca, like 
an Indian, a thing so hateful to Spaniards?' The 
man answered — 'In truth, my lord, I detest it aa 
much as anyone, but necessity obliges me to imitate 
the Indians and keep coca in ray mouth, for I would 
have you to know that, if I did not do so, I could 
not carry this burden, while the coca gives me 
sufficient strength to endure the fatigue.' Pantoja 
was astonished to hear this, and told the story 
wherever he went. Prom that time credit was given 
to th° Indians for using coca from necessity, to 
enable them to endure fatigue, and not from gluttonv." 
Spanish Rules as to Coca Cultivation. — Eventually, 
indeed, the Sp nish Government interfered with 
coca cultivation from more worthy motives, and quitas 
(tmns) of Indian labourers for collecting coca leaves 
were forbidden in 1569 on the ground of the reputed 
unhealthiness of the valley*. . The Spanish Viceroy 
of P. ru afterwards permitted the cultivation with 
voluntary labour, on condition that the labourers 
were paid and that care was taken of their health. 
Descent to the Coca Plantations. — "oca has always 
been one of the most valuable articies of commerce 
in Peru, and it is used by about 8,000.000 of the 
human race. {Eryihoxylon Coca) is cultivated between 
2 000 and 6,000 feet above the level of the sea, in 
the warm valleys of the easte n slopes of the Andes, 
wher- it rains more or less every month in the year 
The desceut from the bleak and lofty plains of the 
Andes to the valle s where the coca grows, presents 
the most lovely scenery to be found anywhere. 
For the fir t thousand feet of the descent the vege- 
tation continues to be of a lowly alpine character; 
but as the descent is continued the scenery increases 
in magnificence. The polished surfaces of perpendi- 
cular cliffs glitter here and there with foaming 
torrents, some like thin lines of thread, oth'-rs broader 
and breaking over rocks, others seeming to burst 
out of the fie. cy clouds, while jagged black peaks, 
glittering with streaks of snow, pierce the mists 
which conceal their bases. Next the t' rraced gardens 
are reached, constructed up the sides of the moun- 
tains, the upper ti r from 6 feet to 8 feet wide, 
and supported by masonry walls, thickly clothed with 
celsias, begonias, calceo'arias, and a profusion of 
fe rns. These terraces or andeveria are often upwards 
of a hundred in number, rising one above the othe-. 
Below them the stream becomes a roaring torrent, 
dashing over the huge locks, with vast masses of dark 
frowning mountains on either side, ending in fan- 
tastically-shaped peaks, some of them veiled by thin, 
fleecy clouds. The vegetation rapidly increases in 
luxuriance with the desceut. The river, rushing down 
the valley, winds along the small breadth of level 
land, striking first against the precipitous cliffs on 
one side, and then sweeping over to the other. The 
scenery continu s to increase in beauty, and the 
cascades pour down in every direction, some in a 
white sheet of continuous foam for hundreds of feet, 
finally seeming to plunge into beds of ferns and 
flowers ; some like driven spray, a< d occasionally a 
waterfall may be seen high up, between two peaks, 
which seems to drop into the clouds', below. Next 
bamboos and tree ferns begin to appear and we at 
length reach the region where coca is cultivated in 
terraces, often fringed with coffee plants. In many 
places these terraces are fifty deep, up the sides of 
the mountains; the rock is a metiunorphic elate, 
slightly micace ms and ferru.'iuons, with quartz occur- 
ring heiv and there; the soil is a soft brown loam. 
The trees a 1 d shurbs in the coca region are very 
luxuriant; there are beautiful liulaatomaeta with a 
large purple flower, cinchona plants of the shrub 
variety, gaultherias, and an immense variety of ferns. 
Coca Cult t ration. — Sha coca plant is a shrub from 
■1 to 6 feot high, with lichens usually grown on the 
older trunks. The branches are straight and alter- 
nate; the leaves alternate and entire, in form and 
size like tea loaves; flowers solitary, with a small 
yellowish-white corolla in live potais. Sowing is 
