Drinks of the World

by James Mew; John Ashton

Markham[138] 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.

In Caravaya and Bolivia the soil in which the Coca grows is composed of a blackish clay, formed from the decomposition of the schists, which form the principal geological features of the mountains. On level ground the plants are placed in furrows called nachos, separated by little walls of earth, umachas, at the foot of each of which a row of plants is placed; but this is a modern innovation, the terrace cultivation being the most ancient. At the end of eighteen months the plants yield their first harvest, and continue to yield for upwards of forty years. The first harvest is called quita calzon, and the leaves are then picked very carefully, one by one, to avoid disturbing the roots of the young tender plants. The following harvests are called mitta (“time” or “season”), and take place three and even four times in the year. The most abundant harvest takes place in March, immediately after the rains; the worst, at the end of June, called the Mitta de San Juan. The third, called Mitta de Santos, is in October or November. With plenty of watering, forty days suffice to cover the plants with leaves afresh. It is necessary to weed the ground very carefully, especially while the plants are young, and the harvest is gathered by women and children.

The green leaves, called matu, are deposited in a piece of cloth which each picker carries, and are then spread out in the drying yard, called matu-caucha, and carefully dried in the sun. The dried leaf is called Coca. The drying yard is formed of slate flags, called pizarra; and when the leaves are thoroughly dry, they are sewn up in cestos, or sacks, made of banana leaves, of 20 lbs. each, strengthened by an exterior covering of bayeta, or cloth.[139] They are also packed in tambores of 50 lbs. each, pressed tightly down. Dr. Poeppig (writing in 1827-32) reckoned the profits of a Coca farm to be forty-five per cent.

The harvest is greatest in a hot moist situation; but the leaf generally considered the best flavoured by consumers, grows in drier parts, on the sides of hills. The greatest care is required in the drying; for too much sun causes the leaves to dry up and lose their flavour, while, if packed up moist, they become fetid. They are generally exposed to the sun in thin layers.

The approximate annual produce of Coca in Peru is about 15,000,000 lbs., the average yield being about 800 lbs. an acre. More than 10,000,000 lbs. are produced annually in Bolivia, according to Dr. Booth of La Paz; so that the annual yield of Coca throughout South America, including Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Pasto, may be estimated at more than 30,000,000 lbs. At Tacna, the tambor of 50 lbs. is worth 9 to 12 dollars, the fluctuations in price being caused by the perishable nature of the article, which cannot be kept in stock for any length of time. The average duration of Coca in a sound state, on the coast, is about five months, after which time it is said to lose flavour, and is rejected by the Indians as worthless.

Cuca leaves can be bought in London, but up to the present time it has not come into much use as a beverage, yet it is supplied in Roots’ Cuca Cocoa, which is a combination of Cuca leaves, and the Cocoa bean.

There is no doubt whatever in Cuca possessing the qualities ascribed to it, and its application in medicine for many “ills that man is heir to,” is being diligently pursued by physicians all over the civilized world, with very beneficial results, and it is a valuable addition to our pharmacopœia. Johnston, in The Chemistry of Common Life,[140] speaking of the general effects of the Coca leaf, says that it “acts differently according to the way in which it is used. When infused, and drunk like tea, it produces a gentle excitement, followed by wakefulness; and, if taken strong, retards the approach of hunger, prevents the usual breathlessness in climbing hills, and, in large doses, dilates the pupil, and renders the eye intolerant of light. It is seldom used in this way, however, but is commonly chewed in the form of a ball or quid, which is turned over and over in the mouth, as is done with tobacco. In this way its action is more gradual and prolonged than when the infusion only is taken. It is also very different in its character, because the constant chewing, the continued action of the saliva, and the influence of the lime or ashes chewed along with it, extract from the leaf certain other active constituents which water alone does not dissolve, when it is infused after the manner of tea.”