Drunkenness
Landa frequently mentions the fact that in his day drunkenness (kaltal) was the curse of the Indians and the cause of many crimes among them, including murder, rape, and arson.[1] At the present time these remarks apply equally well; indeed, drunkenness is probably more prevalent than formerly, as the rum is made locally and is far more intoxicating than the balchè, which Landa describes as a drink made from fermented honey, water, and roots. Moreover, the people drink rum at all times and seasons, whereas both the preparation and consumption of balchè were to some extent ceremonial, as was the resulting intoxication. Drunkenness is not considered in any way a disgrace, but is looked on rather as an amiable weakness. The women, especially the older ones, drink a good deal but they usually do so in the privacy of their own houses. I have seen, however, a little girl of 14 or 15 purchase a pint of rum in a village liquor store, and go out on the plaza, where she drank it in a few gulps; then, lying down in the fierce heat of the afternoon sun, she lapsed into alcoholic coma. Alcohol effects an extraordinarily rapid change for the worse in the Indian's temperament; from a quiet, polite, rather deferential individual, he is converted almost in a moment into a maudlin idiot, staggering about singing foolish snatches of native songs, and endeavoring to embrace everyone he comes in contact with. When thwarted while in this condition his temper is likely to flare up at the slightest provocation, whereupon the thin veneer of civilization and restraint is sloughed in a moment, and he becomes savage, impudent, overbearing, and contemptuous toward the stranger, and ready to draw his machete and fight to kill, with friend or foe alike.