The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-05-26
AMONG THE QUICHUAS
Queer Features of Life and Work Among the In
dams of the High Plateau of the Andes

If YOU knock him over and make MN
go back he then may bring what yoI
have asked. The shock starts ms
brain to working and it is only then
that he understands. | believe that
the cause Of the deterioration of the
Ouichua is due somewhat to the OPP
preston he has had on the part OF
the whites, but more to the alcohol
and coca with which his brain is
soaked from the time he reaches
young manhood until the day of his
death. The chewing of the coca leaf
begins almost at birth; and boys and
girls, young men and young M
as we'll as the old must have SO much
coca per day. The Indians expect to
be supplied with q certain amount OF
coca in addition to their wages Ihey
mix the leaves with the ashes OF a
certain tree and chew them. The
ashes furnish the alkali, that loosens
the alkaloid Of the coca, giving them
the full effect of the cocaine. These
ashes are made up in blocks and are
sole in the market Every Indian
carries his coca pouch with him and
he chews all the time. When his
jaws stop you can see this cud, the
size of a walnut, bullying through n
of his cheeks. The coca takes away
hunger and enables him to endure
fatigue, but it also dries up the brain.
AS ~ dlCO1OI, OOtH iiCH LIN IA
drink great quantities Of aguardiente
or sugar brandy. This has an alcohol
grade of about SO per cent.
Another American who is a large
mine operator in Bolivia tells me
that the Indian boys are bright until
the age of fifteen. Up to that time
they have, plenty of coca, but their
rains have not been sodden with
liquor. One reason fol- this is that
their parents want the liquor them
selves. 1t is only after sixteen, when
they begin to work independently Of
their parents that they can get alcohol
in any great quantity. After that
their brains materially deteriorate,
and they are on the downgrade for
the rest of their lives.
A native Peruvian Of Spanish de-
scent said to me: The Quichuas have
but little ambition, and they live
from hand to mouth. They seem to
have no spirit and their brains appear
to be a%trophied."
AS to alcohol, the extent to which
it is used among the Indians is be
en- men n women by scores at any
feast, and at the railroad stations
and in every part of the country, there
are Indians who go reellng alOns
with re faces and bleared eyes
During my stay in Cuzco l hav'
gone into some of the alcoho
stores, and l am astounded at the vas
quantities sold. There is a wholesal
and retail liquor establishment jus
opposite my hotel in the heart of thi
city. 1t consists of a number Of larg
| rooms running arOund a LatiO. Tn
StOrerOOm facing the street is VALE,
with tin tanks, each twice as high as
man, and as big around as the boile
!, of a h~undred-ton locomotive.
: counted twelve of these tanks stand
ing upon platforms against the We
e of IA room. Each was -arked a
e containing 1000 liters Of alcohol, an
e when l tapped upon them with IN
knife / found they were full. Their
} were $4,000 quarts of that terrib1
g brandy in this one room alone. Ever
tank had it's faucet, and the brand
was drawn out by the gallon, tf
liter or bottle.
re up and l asked him some question
He seemed proud of his business, ar
told me that he made a million and
half pounds of the liquor Zach yea
~ He sells it to the Indians at about S
le per quintal of 100 pounds, shipping
not only to the city of CuZcO, but
N other towns throughout the PROVING
LIN oSSNi loOS IIo :
s, brandy is made. 1t is called II
a, Hacienda P~achachaea, and it cOnsis
is of four great farms, and it takes fro
IN 500 to 1000 Indian families to II
it. The owner 20 me into the cou
IN upon which the liquor store faced a
TO showed me how the stuff is broug
MT in from the plantation. IT is pack
IN goatskins containing 100 pOun
Sc each and is carried ninety miles up
We mules 10 Cuzco. He opened one
the skins and gave me a taste of t
IN liquor. 1t went down my throat Ii
rs liquid fire, and he took al alcof
~ gauge and showed me that the st
KS was So per cent fine.
at l saw other alcohol stores, thou
ne not SO large. in Siclani. There Z
rtz scores of them in A~requipa and in
ng most all the towns of the mounta
IS Gus districts. The alcohol sells
a about ten cents a quart. The Indis
is, usually buy it blythe bottle. a numl
he getting together and treating ca
rk0ther Thu women drink .nuito