The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1903-09-30

In this shape it is toted on mule or
llama back over the mountains to La
Paz. to be deposited in the Adriano de
coca. or coca custom house. After a
picking season the roads leading out of
the valleys are literally filled with
beasts of burden laden with coca, and
troops of Indians on their way to town
to sell the fruit of their labors, or on the
way home, generally empty handed and
empty OF pocket, but in a state of Jolly
1ntoXication, the women outdoing the
men in their enjoyment of the spree
/ singing. dancing, bowling like so many
lunatics, but always dociIe and respect
ful to the superior race, though they
occasionally indulge in a little hair
| pulling among themselves.
| Thus the whole coca crop grown in
Bolivia must pass over the great Cor
dillera, to height of nearly seventeen
thousand feet, before it can reach a
market. A good deal of it is ruined in
| transit, when not sufficiently protected,
as the least moisture, such as the usual
snow storm to be encountered in the
! upper heights, rots the delicate leaves
| and destroys their cocaine properties.
That which is exported from Bolivia is
re?wrapped at the Adriano. in bales of
one hundred and fifty pounds each, COW
cred first with raw hide, then with
strong cloth and thick coating of some
resinous gum. Two of these bales,
weighing three hundred pounds, is con-
sidered a mule-load for the long, hard
journey between La Paz and the sea.
The average price of coca to the pro-
Queer is twenty-five cents (gold) per
pound; but out of this he has to pay a
tax of twenty-four centavos (about thif-
teen cents gold on every pound.
Think of cultivating, picking, drying
and parking the ,tiny leaves for that.
small profit, to say nothing Of the sew
eral days perilous journey over the
mountains. The Bolivian government
derives no small share of its revenue
from this cocoa business. The right to
collect the tax is "farmed out" or sold
to the highest bidder, sealed proposals
being received for the privilege. The
contracts are given for one year only,
running from the 18th Of June to the
10th of the following June. A greater
part of the tax goes into the public
treasury, and the balance is used for
irlprovinge the rough roads over the
heights and down into the valleys
where the coca grows. At least seven
ty-five per cent of all the coca that is
raised in Bolivia is brought. to La Paz
under these contracts; the remainder
being sold by middle-men to the resi-
dents of adjacent villages on the great
Andean plateau. The manner of tax
collecting in Yungas as fair sample OF
the mode throughout the country.
Yanacachi. village near the western
terminus of the valley, lies in narrow
canyon, between impossible mountains
through which there is but one road.
All the streets of the town except that
one leading into the canyon road, are
securely walled up just outside the
town; so that all cargo must pass by
way of the custom house, which stands
at the head. Of the canyon. Whenever
an indian passes with pack on his
back or a load on his mule, IL he does
not stop and show what he carries or
pay the tax II 1t be coca, ne quickly
finds himself IN trouble. Out rushes a
poker which has a screw-iike apparatus /!
at one end, and a heavy raw.hide whip !
attached to the other The screw point |
he thrusts deep into the middle of the |
cargo, to determine If any coca may be |
hidden within 1t; and should any Indian |
resist, he does not hesitate to use the |
whip on his back. ...
The principal consumers of coca in |
Peru and Bolivia are the Quichua and |
Ayn1ara Indians. In the tonbs of the |
ancient Peruvians a small quantity of |
coca leaves is always found buried with |
every mummy, together with an earth /
en- jar that once held lime or potash. |
To this day potash is eaten with the /
coca. 1t is made by incinerating the I
root of a weed that is indigenous to the |
soil where coca grows or from the bark |
of a species of wild bean of which the |
Indians are very fond. The increase of
ones powers Of endurance by the use
Of coca leaves, especially in the higher
attitudes, is something marvellous. 1t is
said to completely abolish all sense of
hunger or fatigue. 1t is an undoubted |
fact that an Indian, when we'll supplied
with coca, will travel from fifty to sew
miles day, carrying on his
back the load Of llama, almost with
out food for days together Indeed he
considers food Of secondary Importance.
Or rather as thirst on his list of necessi-
ties, diluted alcohol coming next to
coca. All the Aynaras and Quichuas,
male and female, use Incredible quanti-
ties of both alcohol and coca, while
their allowance Of food is extremely
small, the menu being limited to only
two or three edibles from one years end
to another. That the women consume
even more than the men is perhaps only
fair, since the former do all the hardest
work and earn most Of themoney. The
aborers of this country are universally
Indians, and all employers must fur
1ish certain amount of coca, to each
nan, or he will not work at all. In the
mines the least allowance per diem is
i've ounces for every man, and some-
lines eight ounces is given. Thus sup
,lied, an Indian will work willingly and
we'll from four o'clock in the morning /.
Until seven p. rn taking nothing to eat
n the meantime. He has food of some 4.
sort before beginning his labors, and af-
er seven in the evening he eats what
wen he can get His first cud is accu-
INFLATED in about two hours, from four
- l.