THE SUPPER OF GUAPO.
I have said all ate of the supper. This is not strictly true. One of the
party did not touch it, and that was old Guapo. Why? Was he not hungry
like the rest? Yes; as hungry as any of them. Why then did he not eat of
the _charqui_ and ocas? Simply because Guapo had a supper of a very
different kind, which he carried in his pouch, and which he liked much
better than the charqui stew. What was it? It was "coca."
"Chocolate," you will say, or, as some call it, "cocoa," which should be
called, to name it properly, "cacao." No, I answer--it was not
chocolate, nor cocoa, nor cacao neither.
"It must have been cocoa-nuts then?" No; nor yet cocoa-nuts. The "coca,"
upon which Guapo made his supper, and which contented his stomach
perfectly for the night, was an article very different from either the
cacao which makes chocolate, or the nut of the cocoa-palm. You are now
impatient to hear what sort of thing it was, and I shall tell you at
once.
The coca is a small tree or shrub about six feet in height, which grows
in the warmer valleys among the Andes mountains. Its botanical name is
_Erythroxylon coca_. Its leaves are small and of a bright green colour,
and its blossoms white. Its fruits are very small scarlet berries. It is
a native plant, and, therefore, found in a wild state; but it is
cultivated by the planters of these countries in fields regularly laid
out, and hence called "cocales." This plant is raised from the seed, and
when the young shoots have attained the height of about eighteen inches,
they are transplanted and put down again at the distance of about a foot
apart from each other.
Now as these little bushes require a humid atmosphere, maize-plants are
sown between the rows to protect them from the sun. In other places
arbours of palm-leaves are constructed over the coca-plants. When no
rain falls, they are watered every five or six days. After about two and
a half years of this nursing, the coca-bush is ready for use, and it is
the leaves alone that are valuable. These are gathered with great care,
just as the Chinese gather the leaves of the tea-plant; and, as in
China, women are principally employed in this labour. The leaves are
said to be ripe, not when they have withered and turned brown, but at a
period when they are full-grown and become brittle. When this period
arrives, they are picked from the tree, and laid out on coarse woollen
cloths to dry in the sun.
When dried, they remain of a pale green colour; but should they get damp
during the process, they become darker, and are then of inferior
quality, and sell for a less price. When fully dried, they are carefully
packed in bags and covered up with dry sand, and are thus ready for the
market. Their price, on the spot where the crop is produced, is about
one shilling English per pound. They are, therefore, full as costly to
produce as tea itself, although the coca-bush will yield three crops of
leaves in one year--that is, a crop every four months; and one hundred
plants will produce about an arroba (25 lbs.) at a crop. The coca-plant
will continue to give fresh leaves for a long period of years, unless
attacked and destroyed by ants, which is not unfrequently the case.
Now, why have I so minutely described the coca-bush? Because, that, in
the economy of the life of those Indians who inhabit the countries of
the Andes mountains, this curious plant plays a most important part.
Scarcely one of these people is to be met with who is not an eater of
cocoa--a "coquero." With them it is what the tea-tree is to the Chinese.
Indeed, it is a curious fact, that in all parts of the world some
stimulating vegetable is used by the human race. Tea in China; the
betel-leaf, and the nut of the areca palm, among the Southern Asiatics;
the poppy in the East; with tobacco, and many like things, in other
countries.
But the coca not only supplies the Indian with a solace to his cares, it
forms the chief article of his food. With a supply of coca, an Indian
will support himself five or six days without eating anything else. The
poor miners, in the Peruvian mines, are all "coqueros;" and it is
alleged that, without coca, they would be unable to undergo the painful
toil to which their calling subjects them. When used to excess, the coca
produces deleterious effects on the human system; but, if moderately
taken, it is far more innocent in its results than either opium or
tobacco.
The coca-leaf is not eaten alone. A certain preparation is necessary,
and another substance is mixed with it before it produces the proper
effect. But let us watch the movements of Guapo, and we shall see how
_he_ does it, for Guapo is a confirmed coquero.
Guapo, true to his promise, does not sleep under the mollé trees. He
leaves the party, and, with a melancholy air, has climbed up and seated
himself upon a projecting rock, where he intends to pass the night. His
last glance at Don Pablo and his family was one of foreboding. He had
again remonstrated with his master, but to no purpose. The latter only
laughed at the earnestness of the old Indian, and told him to go to his
perch and leave the party to themselves.
It was still grey light when Guapo climbed up to the rock. Against the
sky his tall, lank form could be traced in all its outlines. For some
moments he sat in a serious and reflective mood--evidently busy with
thoughts about the "poison-trees." His appetite, however, soon got the
better of him; and he set to work to prepare his coca supper. It was a
simple operation.
Around Guapo's neck there hung a small pouch made of the skin of the
chinchilla, which beautiful little animal is a native of these parts.
This pouch contained a quantity of the dry leaves of the coca. Having
taken out some half-dozen of these leaves, he put them into his mouth
and commenced chewing them. In a short while, by the aid of tongue,
teeth, and lips, they were formed into a little ball of pulp, that
rolled about in his mouth. Another step in the process now became
necessary. A small gourd, that hung around Guapo's neck by a thong, was
laid hold of. This was corked with a wooden stopper, in which stopper a
wire pin was fixed, long enough to reach down to the bottom of the
gourd.
After taking out the stopper, Guapo applied the lower part of the pin to
his lips, and then, plunging it once more into the gourd, drew it out
again. This time the pin came out, with a fine whitish powder adhering
to the part that had been wetted. Now what was this powder? It was
nothing else than lime that had been burned, and pulverised. Perhaps it
was the ashes of the mollé tree, of which we have already spoken, and
which, as we have said, possess a highly alkaline property. The ashes of
the musa, or plaintain, are sometimes used; but, after all, it is most
likely that it was the mollé ashes which Guapo carried, for these are
most highly esteemed by the Indians of Southern Peru; and Guapo was a
connoisseur in coca-eating.
Whichever of the three it was--lime, mollé, or musa--Guapo carried the
pin to his mouth, and, without touching his lips (it would have burnt
him if he had), he inserted it, so as to penetrate the ball of chewed
cocoa-leaves that rested upon the tip of his tongue. This was stabbed
repeatedly and adroitly by the pin, until all the powder remained in the
coca-ball; and then the pin was withdrawn, wiped, and restored to its
place, along with the stopper of the gourd.
Guapo now remained quietly "ruminating" for a period of about forty
minutes--for this is about the time required for chewing a mess of
cocoa-leaves. Indeed, so exactly is this time observed, that the
Indians, when travelling, measure distances by it; and one "coceada" is
about equal to the time occupied in walking a couple of English miles.
The coceada of our old Indian being finished, he drew his llama-wool
poncho around him; and, leaning back against the rock, was soon buried
in a profound slumber.