No Indian is without his chuspa or coca-bag, made of llama-cloth, dyed red and blue in patterns, with woollen tassels hanging from it. He carries it over one shoulder, suspended at his side; and, in taking coca, he sits down, puts his chuspa before him, and places the leaves in his mouth one by one, chewing and turning them till he forms a ball. He then applies a small quantity of carbonate of potash, prepared by burning the stalk of the quinoa-plant, and mixing the ashes with lime and water; thus forming cakes called llipta, which are dried for use, and also kept in the chuspa.[324] This operation is called acullicar in Bolivia and Southern Peru, and chacchar in the North. They usually perform it three times in a day's work, and every Indian consumes two or three ounces of coca daily.
In the mines of the cold region of the Andes the Indians derive great enjoyment from the use of coca; the running chasqui, or messenger, in his long journeys over the mountains and deserts, and the shepherd watching his flock on the lofty plains, has no other nourishment than is afforded by his chuspa of coca, and a little maize. The smell of the leaf is agreeable and aromatic, and when chewed it gives out a grateful fragrance, accompanied by a slight irritation, which excites the saliva. Its properties are to enable a greater amount of fatigue to be borne with less nourishment, and to prevent the occurrence of difficulty of respiration in ascending steep mountain-sides. Tea made from the leaves has much the taste of green tea, and, if taken at night, is much more effectual in keeping people awake. Applied externally coca moderates the rheumatic pains caused by cold, and cures headaches. When used to excess it is, like everything else, prejudicial to the health, yet, of all the narcotics used by man, coca is the least injurious, and the most soothing and invigorating.
The active principle of the coca-leaf has, a few years ago, been separated by Dr. Niemann, and called cocaine. Pure cocaine crystallizes with difficulty, is but slightly soluble in water, but is easily dissolved in alcohol, and still more easily in ether.[325]
I chewed coca, not constantly, but very frequently, from the day of my departure from Sandia, and, besides the agreeable soothing feeling it produced, I found that I could endure long abstinence from food with less inconvenience than I should otherwise have felt, and it enabled me to ascend precipitous mountain-sides with a feeling of lightness and elasticity, and without losing breath. This latter quality ought to recommend its use to members of the Alpine Club, and to walking tourists in general, though the sea voyage would probably cause the leaves to lose much of their virtue. To the Peruvian Indian, however, who can procure it within a few weeks of its being picked, the coca is a solace which is easily procured, which affords great enjoyment, and which has a most beneficial effect.[326]
CHAPTER XV.
CARAVAYA.
Chinchona forests of Tambopata.
On the morning of April 27th we crossed a rude bridge over the Huari-huari, and began to make our way up the face of the steep mountain on the other side, first through a thick forest, and then up into the grassy highlands, until, after several halts, we at length reached the summit of the ridge, though a mountain-peak still rose up in our rear. From this point there was a most extensive panoramic view. A sea of ridges rose one behind the other, with stupendous snowy peaks in the background, and, more than a thousand feet below, the rivers of Sandia and Huari-huari, reduced to mere glittering threads, could be seen winding through the tortuous ravines. We had now reached the pajonales, and were on a ridge or back-bone between the rivers of Laccani and San Lorenzo, two tributaries of the Huari-huari; a grass-covered and comparatively cold region, interspersed with thickets, forming the crest of the tropical forests which line the sides of the ravines through which the rivers wind, far below.