1 Lima.

A plant having such manifold and beneficent properties must needs have a supernatural origin, and the Indians had a belief that the goddess Varischa first introduced the Cuca plant into Peru, and taught the inhabitants the use thereof. Abraham Cowley sang thereof in his Latin poems, "Sex libri plan-tarum," and I make use of the translation by Nahurn Tate, of the fifth book, published in 1700. The Indian Bacchus challenge the other deities to judge between the fruits of the two worlds.

* * * * *

"But Bacchus much more sportive than the rest, Fills up a Bowl with Juice from Grapestones drein'd, And puts it in Omelichilus hand; Take off this Draught, said he, if thou art wise, 'twill purge thy Cannibal Stomach's Crudities.

He, unaccustomed to the acid Juice Storm'd, and with blows had answer'd the Abuse, But fear'd t'engage the European Guest, Whose Strength and Courage had subdu'd the East. He therefore chooses a less dang'rpus fray, And summons all his Country's Plants away: Forthwith in decent Order they appear, And various Fruits on various Branches wear; Like Amazons they stand in painted Arms, Coca alone appears with little Charms; Yet led the Van, our scoffing Venus scorn'd The shrublike Tree, and with no Fruit adorn'd. The Indian Plants, said she, are like to speed In this Dispute of the most sterile Breed, Who choose a Dwarf and Eunuch for their Head. Our Gods laugh'd out aloud at what she said. Pachamama defends her darling Tree, And said the wanton Goddess was too free,

You only know the fruitfulness of Lust, And therefore here your Judgement is unjust, Your skill in other offsprings we may trust, With those Chast Tribes that no distinction know Of Sex, your Province nothing has to do.

Of all the Plants that any Soil does bear, This Tree in Fruits the Richest does appear, It bears the best, and bears 'em all the year.

Ev'n now with Fruits 'tis stor'd - why laugh you yet ?

Behold how thick with Leaves it is beset,

Each Leaf is Fruit, and such substantial Fare

No Fruit beside to Rival it will dare.

Mov'd with his Countries Roming Fate (whose Coil

Must for her Treasures be expos'd to toil)

Our Varicocha first this Coca sent,

Endow'd with Leaves of wondrous Nourishment,

Whose Juice succ'd in, and to the Stomach ta'en,

Long Hunger and long Labour can sustain;

From which our faint and weary Bodies find More Succour, more they cheat the drooping Mind, Than can your Bacchus and your Ceres ioin'd.

Three Leaves supply for six days march afford, The Quitoita with this Provision stor'd Can pass the vast and cloudy Andes o'er -The dreadful Andes plac'd 'twixt Winter's store

Of Winds, Rain, Snow, and that more humble Earth That gives the small but valiant Coca Birth; This Champion that makes war-like Venus Mirth.

Nor Coca only useful art at home,

A famous Merchandize thou art become;

A thousand Paci and Vicugni groan

Yearly beneath thy Loads, and for thy sake alone

The spacious World's to us by Commerce known"

Dr. Von Tschudi says that the Coca plant is regarded by the Peruvian Indian, as something sacred and mysterious, and it sustained an important part in religion of the Incas. In all ceremonies, whether religious or warlike, it was introduced, for producing smoke at the great offerings, or as the sacrifice itself. During divine worship the priests chewed Coca leaves, and, unless they were supplied with them, it was believed that the favour of the gods could not be propitiated. It was also deemed necessary that the supplicator for divine grace should approach the priests with an Acullico in his mouth. It was believed that any business undertaken without the benediction of Coca leaves could not prosper; and to the shrub itself worship was rendered.

During an interval of more than 300 years, Christianity has not been able to subdue the deep-rooted idolatry; for everywhere are found traces of belief in the mysterious power of this plant. The excavators in the mines of Cerro de Pasco throw masticated Coca on hard veins of metal, in the belief that it softens the ore and renders it more easy to work. The origin of this custom is easily explained, when it is recollected that in the time of the Incas it was believed that the Coyas, or deities of metals, rendered the mountains impenetrable, if they were not propitiated by the odour of Coca. The Indians, even at the present time,1 put Coca leaves into the mouths of dead persons, to secure to them a favourable reception on their entrance into another world; and when a Peruvian Indian, on a journey, falls in with a mummy, he, with timid reverence, presents to it some Coca leaves as his pious offering.

1 Tschudi travelled in Peru, 1838-1842,

Markhaml also says, "The reliance on the extraordinary virtues of the Coca leaf, amongst the Peruvian Indians, is so strong, that, in the Huanaco province, they believe that, if a dying man can taste a leaf placed on his tongue, it is a sure sign of his future happiness."

He also gives an account of the modern cultivation of the plant. Sowing is commenced in December and January, when the rains begin, which continue until April. The seeds are spread on the surface of the soil in a small nursery or raising ground called almaciga, over which there is generally a thatch roof (huascichi). At the end of about a fortnight they come up; the young plants being continually watered, and protected from the sun by the huascichi. The following year they are transplanted to a soil specially prepared by thorough weeding, and breaking up the clods very fine by hand; often in terraces only affording room for a single row of plants, up the side of the mountains, which are kept up by small stone walls. The plants are generally placed in square holes called aspi, a foot deep, with stones on the sides to prevent the earth from falling in. Three or four are planted in each hole, and grow up together.