The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-07-10

of the farmers give coca to their men.
Women and children chew coca, and
IT is rarely that you can find an Indian
Without big lump Of 1t inside his
Cheek. Coca is indeed one of the chief
products of Bolivia Millions of dol
lars worth of it are produced every
year, and 1t is brought. into La PaZ
daily in large quantities Coca is the
shrub from which cocaine is made. 1t
should be distinguished from the cacao
tree, from which we get our chocolate
and cocoa. The coca plant grows from
Two to hve feet in height, and it is
largely cultivated in the eastern prov
inces of Bolivia. Each plant gives
three crops of leaves a year. The
leaves are gathered by Indian women
packed up In bundles of twenty-five
pounds eaer and shipped to the mar
kets ON the backs Of llamas, donkeys
or mules. 1t is heavily taxed and is
one OF the chief sources of government
revenue.
LIKE THE BETEL CHEWERS.
The Indians use coca much as the
Siamese chew the betel nut. They take
the leaves, which, by the way, look
not unlike the wintergreen leaves. and
mix them with ashes of lime They
chew the mixture, and, strange to saw.
swallow the Spite. The chew is said
TO be both food and a stimulant. 1t
Keeps out the cold and allays hunger.
Many of the Indians go out and work
Tor hours on nothing but a chew of CO.
ca, and in going over these high
mountain passes they always chew #.
AT noon and breakfast times they put
IN supplies of the mixture, but keep on
chewing all the day long, year in and
year out Strange to say, this contip-
uous chewing does not seem to cause
indigestion, and I am told that 1t has
no evil effects. Not a few of the half
Dreeds use coca, but 1 have yet to
nnd any whites who are addicted to
the habit
DRINK RAW ALCOHOL.
The Bolivian Indian drinks raw al
cohol. This he esteems the most de-
sirable of beverages, and a large part
OF his earnings goss towards keeping
himself and his family in a chronic
state OF inebriety. On feast days, and
/! am told that the Indian claims 200
least days out of every 365, men wom-
en- and children get drunk and keep so
until the alcohol and their money runs
out. Drunkenness is, 1 am told. the
lndlans idea of the acme of pleasure.
Speaking of alcohol and aguardien+a
mere, reminds me of curious method
they have OF. carrying such LIQUORS
over the country. 1t must all go on the
packs OF men Or mules, and the recent
acle in which it is taken Is USUALLY q
goat skin. The skins, I am authentic
ally Informed, are torn from the bodies
OF the goats while still living, as such
skins make more pliable and better.
pags. The goats are hung UP by the
horns. Then slit is made about the
neck and couple of men, Selling hold
OF the skin, fairly rip it from the bodv
of the tortured and dying animal.
CHICHA OR BOLIVIAN BEER.
Another drink, which is liked nv
both Indians and Cholos, or the mixed
races here, is known as chicha. You
Will find ch:cha saloons in every block
of a Bolivian city. La Paz has hun
dreds of them. Each is owned by
Cholo woman or girl, and I have been
.otu that many OF these women saloon
keepers are no better than thew sbouId
De. The chicha Is kept in an immense
earthen jar and is ladled out in glasses
much like the beer schooner of orr
country. The liquor looks like very
thin and very dirty buttermills with q
decidedly yellowish tinge. I have not
as yet been able to acquire a taste for
~, eliC oliNNc nave uedrd how the
best of it is made have not had +rou-
BILE in giving up trying to do so. Chi
cha is made of Indian corn or maize.
1t is a drink that was used by the In
dfans here ages ago, and you still find
it everywhere along the west coast of
South America. The best made in Be-
livia comes from the city Of Cocha-
banda.
Here is how 1t is made. The grains
of ripe corn are first bruised with
heavy stone. Then they are handed
over to a party Of old and young wom-
en- who chew them thoroughly, mixing
the grain with their saliva until they
have turned 1t into paste, when they
spit 1t out into a dish or cup and begin
on fresh chew. When a sufficient
amount Of the paste or corn and spittle
has been collected it is spread out upon
board to dry. 1t is next put into a big
earthen vessel as large around as a
wash tub and about as high as your
waist. This is filed with water and
boiled over slow fire for four days
1t is then cooled, filtered and put into