We established ourselves under a rock, where there was no room to pitch the tent, and thus our first night of camping out commenced, for previously we had slept in the road-side tambos. The Indians carried little earthen pots for cooking, in their ccepis, and got up a fire of dry sticks with great rapidity. I had a delicious bath in the river, where the tall forest trees overshadowed the water on either side. At night the moon streamed its floods of light over the forest, and the brilliant sparks from myriads of fire-flies shone from the trees in every direction up the side of the opposite mountain; but in the early morning the sky clouded over, and a heavy drizzling rain began to fall, which prevented sleep, and made us wish for day.
From this encampment our way led up the precipitous sides of the mountain, to the grassy pajonales which divide the valleys of Sandia and Tambopata; but I will here halt awhile to give a brief account of the cultivation of that plant, of which we had lately seen so much, and which enabled me to ascend the mighty passes of the Andes on foot with ease and comfort—the strength-giving, invigorating coca.
A general geographical description of all this country has been given in the preceding chapter.
During my stay at Sandia the indications of the thermometer were as follows, between the 20th and 25th of April:—
| Mean temperature | 63⅕° |
| Minimum temperature at night | 50½ |
| Highest observed | 65 |
| Lowest | 47 |
| Range | 18 |
CHAPTER XIV.
COCA-CULTIVATION.
The coca-leaf is the great source of comfort and enjoyment to the Peruvian Indian; it is to him what betel is to the Hindoo, kava to the South Sea Islander, and tobacco to the rest of mankind; but its use produces invigorating effects which are not possessed by the other stimulants. From the most ancient times the Peruvians have used this beloved leaf, and they still look upon it with feelings of superstitious veneration. In the time of the Incas it was sacrificed to the Sun, the Huillac Umu or high priest chewing the leaf during the ceremony; and, before the arrival of the Spaniards, it was used, as the cacao in Mexico, instead of money. After the conquest, although its virtues were extolled by the Inca Garcilasso de la Vega,[315] and by the Jesuit Acosta,[316] some fanatics proposed to proscribe its use, and to root up the plants, because they had been used in the ancient superstitions, and because its cultivation took away the Indians from other work. The second council of Lima, consisting of bishops from all parts of South America, condemned the use of coca in 1569 because it was a "useless and pernicious leaf, and on account of the belief stated to be entertained by the Indians that the habit of chewing coca gave them strength, which is an illusion of the devil."[317]