1. Poporo of a youth.
2. Poporo of a man in his prime.
3. Poporo of an old man.
As we have said before, the Indian never parts with his poporo, let him be awake or asleep, at home or on his travels, the poporo is always attached to his belt. An Indian would part with all he holds most dear in the world, all, except his poporo.
We have the rare and good fortune to possess a poporo, of which we give a picture (fig. 3). It is, we believe, the only specimen existing in Europe. We owe it to the kindness of M. Gauguet, who has made numerous voyages to Colombia, where he has been able to establish so much sympathy among the natives that one of their old chiefs, who was specially indebted, did not fear to depart from all custom and to incur the contempt of his companions, by offering him, as a pledge of friendship, the object to which he attached the greatest value—his poporo![3]
Thus the great importance that an Indian attaches to Coca is easily shown. It should be recognized, moreover, that the first conquerors of the country did not fail to countenance the passion of the vanquished for the national plant. In fact, they quickly recognized that the habit of consuming Coca might become an excellent source of revenue; and Garcillasco de la Véga, a half-breed of the first generation, tells us that in his time a part of the impost was paid to the conqueror in the form of Coca leaves. The benefits which were derived from the traffic in this plant were such that at a certain time the revenues of the bishop and of the canons of the cathedral of Cuzco came from the tithe on these leaves.