36 
REVIEWS. 
coquero suggests the desired explanation ; useless for every active pursuit in life, 
and the slave of his passions, even more than the drunkard, he exposes himself to 
the greatest dangers, for the sake of gratifying this degrading propensity. As the 
stimulus of coca is most fully developed when the hody is exhausted with toil, or 
the mind with conversation, the poor victim then hastens to some retreat in the 
gloomy native wood, and flinging himself under a tree, remains stretched out there, 
heedless of night or of storms, unprotected by covering or by fire, unconscious of 
the floods of rain and of tremendous winds which sweep the forest ; and often 
yielding himself for two or three entire days to the occupation of chewing coca, 
returns home to his abode, with trembhng limbs and pallid countenance, the 
miserable spectacle of unnatural enjoyment. Whoever accidentally meets the 
coquero under such circumstances, and by speaking interrupts the effect of this 
intoxication, is sure to draw upon himself the hatred of the half-maddened creature. 
The man who is once seized with the passion for this practice, if placed in circum- 
stances which favour its indulgence, is a ruined being. Many instances were related 
to us in Peru, where young people of the best families have begun to use coca for 
the sake of passing the time away ; and, acquiring a relish for it, have, from that 
period, been lost to civilisation, and, as if seized by some malevolent instinct, refuse 
to return to their homes, and resisting the entreaties of their friends, who occasion- 
ally discover the haunts of these unhappy fugitives, either retire to some mor6 
distant solitude, or take the first opportunity of escaping when they have been 
brought back to the town ; indeed the lives of such wretched beings are embittered 
by the presence of civilised society, where the white coquero is shunned as the 
most dissolute drunkard^ and, soon sinking into a semi-barbarous state, and degrad- 
ing their white hue, which is the natural stamp of a higher class of society, they 
die a premature death from their excessive use of this intoxicating leaf. An 
example of this kind fell under my own notice, in an individual who lived with me 
in the solitary Pampayaco, and unworthily bore the honoured appellation of 
Calderone. He was of the fairest colour, and of very good descent, but for twenty 
years had resided in the montana, where from compassion, he was permitted to 
inhabit a hut, more fit for a savage than for a white man. Although scarce forty 
years of age, he was more decrepid than many a person of sixty, and utterly useless 
for any common purpose of life, as no one could depend on his word. Priding 
himself excessively, like all Creoles, on his white colour, yet utterly averse to any 
exertion, the mere idea of a city life with its accompanying restraints, was hateful 
to him. As he was a decided coquero, he could only be of service when it was 
practicable to keep this intoxicating herb from him ; but when once the passion 
had irresistibly seized him, which was at least every month, he would break through 
all restraints, and disappearing in the forest, was lost for many days, after which he 
would emerge, sick, powerless, and altered. He was of some use to me, as a good 
and eager sportsman, and, by liberally supplying him with such fine gunpowder as 
he could not obtain by purchase, I soon gained his perfect confidence and goodwill. 
His disposition was generally kind, but any remonstrance against his vices, would 
