The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-05-20
BRIEF HISTORY
OF "ThE WEED. "
(New York SUM.
March 3rd, 1899.

Taking it for granted, because the
contrary is incapable of proof, that
what we now call tobacco was unheard
of by civilized people until it was dis
covered by the Columbian explorers on
what is now the island of Cuba, by the
grace of God and the nerve of Uncle
Sam no longer a Spanish possession,
the chrOniclerS are somewhat undecid-
ed as to the exact moment of dis
covery, but it was some time within a
week or ten days after the 9th of Oc-
tober, 1892, the day on which the pur-
pie mountain peaks Of an unknown
country first broke the level skyline of
the sea which spreads its sapphire
sheen before the eagle eye of a Geno-
csc pilot. When the threekeeled Span
ish fleet had anchored off the coral
reefed shores of the new land which
the Italian in command called 1.-The
Pearl Of the Antilles" and the natives
called Caoboi, meaning the land of the
dead, because the warriors always kill
ed their prisoners, he sent exploring
parties out into the Wilds searching for
the IlCu Oh SOlu anu SILVER tDu
that mystical Cubanacan in the centre
of the island whose gates were pure
gold and whose walls precious stones,
with stories of which the credulous
sailors had been stuffed by the yellow
editors of that day. OF course the sail
orS never found anything as represent
ed, but they found a greater novelty,
to wit, people with firebrands in their
hands putting clouds of smoke from
their mouths and noses. At first the
sailors thought they had 'em ag'in,
but Cuba was local option at this time
and they knew that could not be: then
they thought it was wild western
way the people had of pertaining them
selves, or fumigating against the time
to come, and they proceeded to inves-
tigate. They soon found it was not
perfumery that was being burned, nor
exactly a fumigant, but that it was a
strange herb, which, wrapped in the
huSkS of Indian corn, also novelty,
the people burned, and inhaled the
smoke. What its name or its effects
were they did not know Immediately,
but discoveries are inquisitive folk,
and these sailors tried the smoking
process, then and there, greatly to
the upheavel of their entire inner
men, and their utter disgust with so
vile a compound.
Later they ceased to wonder at the
smoking, for wherever they went they
found that the custom in one form or
another prevailed, and still later dis
coverers found that it was not only
common in the West Indies, but all
over the great continent that they had
happened on. They found, too, that
while the herb was pretty much the
same everywhere, it had different
names in different localities, being
called "kohiha,'' ''piecelt," ''petun,'
.'cohiba,'' ''yoli,'' and TOBACCO while
up in Virginia it had the name OF
"apooke." The name 'tobago" became
popular with the discoveries because
it was more generally used, being the
name of a peculiar pipe for smoking
the weed, which seemed to be the pro-
per thing with all classes everywhere.
This pipe was Y-shaped affair, the
prongs of which were inserted in the
nostrils and the main stem went into
the burning tobacco, which was piled
in a heap and set on fire, as might
smoking around it or as few as might
be. It does not appear that the natives
ever made the TOBACCO long enough in
the stem to be filled with the weed and
smoked as a pipe, although pipes Oh
other forms were in use among Solne
of the tribes. When the forked stem
was not procurable a single reed stem
was used in one nostril. The word to
bago'' was euphonized into "topaco,
and finally into "tabaco," which the
Spaniards retained, although other ma
tons for fifty or sixty years attempted
to adopt other names for the new Am
erican product.
Chief among these titular designers
was Jean Nicot, Ambassador from
France to Portugal in 1859, who bought
some of the plants from Flemish
merchant in Lisbon who had them
from Florida. He sent them to the
Grand Prior of France and they We're
given the name of the Herbe de Grand
Prieur, which was appropriate enough,
as tobacco at that time was used by
civilized people for medicinal purposes
only. When Nicot, who was a gallant
and courtier of the old school, came
back to France in 1861, he presented