38 REVIEWS. 
evident ; for this reason, the natives of the cold and dry districts of the Andes are 
more addicted to the consumption of coca than those of the close forests, where 
undoubtedly other stimulants do but take its place. Weakness in the digestive 
organs, which like most incurable complaints, increases continually in a greater or 
less degree, first attacks the unfortunate coquero. This complaint, called opilacion, 
may be trifling at the beginning, but soon attains an alarming height ; then come 
bilious obstructions, attended with all those thousand painful symptoms, which are. 
so much aggravated by a tropical climate. Jaundice and derangement of the 
nervous system follow, along with pains in the head, and such a prostration of 
strength that the patient speedily loses all appetite ; the hue of the whites assumes 
a leaden colour, and a total inability to sleep ensues, which aggravates the mental 
depression of the unhappy individual, who spite of all his ills, cannot relinquish the 
use of the herb to which he owes his sufferings, but craves brandy in addition ; the 
appetite becomes quite irregular, sometimes failing altogether, and sometimes 
assuming quite a wolfish voracity, especially for animal food; thus do years of 
misery drag on, succeeded, at length, by a painful death. 
" In a moral point of view, the custom of chewing coca is no less deleterious. 
The propensity for solitude and inaction which it engenders, is productive of many 
bad consequences; and if the intellectual powers do not seem to sink so quickly as 
under the influence of ardent spirits, still the effects tend finally to equal degrada- 
tion. It is fortunate that a thinly peopled region is the only theatre for the 
coqueros, the bustle of a town would ill suit this propensity ; besides, public opinion 
is even more strong against it than gambling or drinking. The stigma of vul- 
garity attaches so much to the coquero, that every white person shuns any inter- 
course with him, though he always pleads the weakness of his stomach as an excuse 
for chewing the herb. The Indian alone is considered as privileged to continue 
this custom, for even the negro, though fond of strong excitement, does not love 
the coca; still, females of every class are said to be partial to it, and to enjoy it 
both in the montana and the towns, though in the greatest secrecy. It is a rare 
thing for strangers to addict themselves to it, though it is said that the Chilians do 
so, when coming to reside in the coca districts, and become even more inveterate 
coca chewers than the natives themselves. You may frequently hear the ignorant 
people in Peru speak of this herb as a blessing sent from heaven, and a miraculous 
plant, to which the greatest virtues are ascribed. Undoubtedly many individuals 
may use it without suff'ering materially, but as its eff'ects of increasing the powers arise 
solely from exciting the nerves, the results must finally be injurious ; and, even 
those instances of endurance which arise from its use, have been greatly 
exaggerated. The miner will perform, for twelve long hours, the formidable 
heavy work of the mine, and sometimes even doubles that period, without sustain- 
ing any farther sustenance than a handful of parched maize, but every three hours 
he takes a pause for the purpose of chewing coca (coqueai). He would work ill 
and reluctantly if the proprietor let him want his favourite herb ; and he exerts 
himself four-fold if he is allowed to take brandy along with it, thus heightening, an 
