Popular Adventure Tales

by Mayne Reid

  CHAPTER IV.

  THE SUPPER OF GUAPO.

  I have said all ate of the supper. This is not strictly true. One of theparty did not touch it, and that was old Guapo. Why? Was he not hungrylike the rest? Yes; as hungry as any of them. Why then did he not eat ofthe _charqui_ and ocas? Simply because Guapo had a supper of a verydifferent kind, which he carried in his pouch, and which he liked muchbetter than the charqui stew. What was it? It was "coca."

  "Chocolate," you will say, or, as some call it, "cocoa," which should becalled, to name it properly, "cacao." No, I answer--it was notchocolate, 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 stomachperfectly for the night, was an article very different from either thecacao which makes chocolate, or the nut of the cocoa-palm. You are nowimpatient to hear what sort of thing it was, and I shall tell you atonce.

  The coca is a small tree or shrub about six feet in height, which growsin 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 isa native plant, and, therefore, found in a wild state; but it iscultivated by the planters of these countries in fields regularly laidout, and hence called "cocales." This plant is raised from the seed, andwhen the young shoots have attained the height of about eighteen inches,they are transplanted and put down again at the distance of about a footapart from each other.

  Now as these little bushes require a humid atmosphere, maize-plants aresown between the rows to protect them from the sun. In other placesarbours of palm-leaves are constructed over the coca-plants. When norain falls, they are watered every five or six days. After about two anda half years of this nursing, the coca-bush is ready for use, and it isthe leaves alone that are valuable. These are gathered with great care,just as the Chinese gather the leaves of the tea-plant; and, as inChina, women are principally employed in this labour. The leaves aresaid to be ripe, not when they have withered and turned brown, but at aperiod when they are full-grown and become brittle. When this periodarrives, they are picked from the tree, and laid out on coarse woollencloths to dry in the sun.

  When dried, they remain of a pale green colour; but should they get dampduring the process, they become darker, and are then of inferiorquality, and sell for a less price. When fully dried, they are carefullypacked in bags and covered up with dry sand, and are thus ready for themarket. Their price, on the spot where the crop is produced, is aboutone shilling English per pound. They are, therefore, full as costly toproduce as tea itself, although the coca-bush will yield three crops ofleaves in one year--that is, a crop every four months; and one hundredplants will produce about an arroba (25 lbs.) at a crop. The coca-plantwill continue to give fresh leaves for a long period of years, unlessattacked and destroyed by ants, which is not unfrequently the case.

  Now, why have I so minutely described the coca-bush? Because, that, inthe economy of the life of those Indians who inhabit the countries ofthe 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 ofcocoa--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 somestimulating vegetable is used by the human race. Tea in China; thebetel-leaf, and the nut of the areca palm, among the Southern Asiatics;the poppy in the East; with tobacco, and many like things, in othercountries.

  But the coca not only supplies the Indian with a solace to his cares, itforms the chief article of his food. With a supply of coca, an Indianwill support himself five or six days without eating anything else. Thepoor miners, in the Peruvian mines, are all "coqueros;" and it isalleged that, without coca, they would be unable to undergo the painfultoil to which their calling subjects them. When used to excess, the cocaproduces deleterious effects on the human system; but, if moderatelytaken, it is far more innocent in its results than either opium ortobacco.

  The coca-leaf is not eaten alone. A certain preparation is necessary,and another substance is mixed with it before it produces the propereffect. 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 molle trees. Heleaves the party, and, with a melancholy air, has climbed up and seatedhimself upon a projecting rock, where he intends to pass the night. Hislast glance at Don Pablo and his family was one of foreboding. He hadagain remonstrated with his master, but to no purpose. The latter onlylaughed at the earnestness of the old Indian, and told him to go to hisperch and leave the party to themselves.

  It was still grey light when Guapo climbed up to the rock. Against thesky his tall, lank form could be traced in all its outlines. For somemoments he sat in a serious and reflective mood--evidently busy withthoughts about the "poison-trees." His appetite, however, soon got thebetter of him; and he set to work to prepare his coca supper. It was asimple operation.

  Around Guapo's neck there hung a small pouch made of the skin of thechinchilla, which beautiful little animal is a native of these parts.This pouch contained a quantity of the dry leaves of the coca. Havingtaken out some half-dozen of these leaves, he put them into his mouthand commenced chewing them. In a short while, by the aid of tongue,teeth, and lips, they were formed into a little ball of pulp, thatrolled about in his mouth. Another step in the process now becamenecessary. A small gourd, that hung around Guapo's neck by a thong, waslaid hold of. This was corked with a wooden stopper, in which stopper awire pin was fixed, long enough to reach down to the bottom of thegourd.

  After taking out the stopper, Guapo applied the lower part of the pin tohis lips, and then, plunging it once more into the gourd, drew it outagain. This time the pin came out, with a fine whitish powder adheringto the part that had been wetted. Now what was this powder? It wasnothing else than lime that had been burned, and pulverised. Perhaps itwas the ashes of the molle tree, of which we have already spoken, andwhich, as we have said, possess a highly alkaline property. The ashes ofthe musa, or plaintain, are sometimes used; but, after all, it is mostlikely that it was the molle ashes which Guapo carried, for these aremost highly esteemed by the Indians of Southern Peru; and Guapo was aconnoisseur in coca-eating.

  Whichever of the three it was--lime, molle, or musa--Guapo carried thepin to his mouth, and, without touching his lips (it would have burnthim if he had), he inserted it, so as to penetrate the ball of chewedcocoa-leaves that rested upon the tip of his tongue. This was stabbedrepeatedly and adroitly by the pin, until all the powder remained in thecoca-ball; and then the pin was withdrawn, wiped, and restored to itsplace, along with the stopper of the gourd.

  Guapo now remained quietly "ruminating" for a period of about fortyminutes--for this is about the time required for chewing a mess ofcocoa-leaves. Indeed, so exactly is this time observed, that theIndians, when travelling, measure distances by it; and one "coceada" isabout equal to the time occupied in walking a couple of English miles.

  The coceada of our old Indian being finished, he drew his llama-woolponcho around him; and, leaning back against the rock, was soon buriedin a profound slumber.