"This gathering of the Coca is just such an occasion for rejoicing for the natives of the valleys, as reaping-time and harvests are for our peasants. On the day when the gathering of the leaves is finished both sexes that have taken part in the work assemble and celebrate, in dances and libations, the pleasure they experience in having finished their labors." In 1851, the annual production of Bolivia was estimated to be more than 400,000 certos (600,000 kilogrammes) of Coca leaves, of which three-quarters came from the province of Yungas. [Illustration: 38 days after planting. 40 days. 51 days. 65 days. 68 days. 71 days. Observation of Growing Seeds in Hot-houses of M. Mariani.] [Illustration: ERYTHROXYLON COCA. (Specimen of a branch grown in hot-houses of Mr. Mariani.)] [Illustration: COCA PLANT Obtained by transplanting; eight months. (Hot-houses of Mariani.)] [Illustration: COCA PLANT Obtained from seed; eight months. (Hot-houses of Mariani.)] [Illustration] CHAPTER II. HISTORY OF COCA. Coca has been known from time immemorial in South America. At the time when Pizarro landed on the Peruvian coast, the leaf of Coca was held in great esteem among the natives; it was considered to be a divine plant, a living representation of the Deity, a fetish of wonderful and supernatural qualities, and the fields where it grew were reverenced as sanctuaries. Not everybody was allowed to make use of it; its use was the privilege of the nobles and of the priests, and among the greatest rewards that the sovereign could give his subjects, the privilege of chewing Coca leaves was most highly esteemed. However strange such a superstition may appear, it is indisputable, and all authors that have published the account of the conquest of the Indies corroborate it. It will suffice for us to quote the testimony of Joseph Acosta, who says in every letter, of his natural and moral history of the Indies, of the East as well as of the West, published in 1653: "The Indians esteem it highly, and during the reign of the Incas, the common people were not allowed to use Coca without the permission of the Governor." [Illustration: NATIVES OF COLOMBIA CHEWING COCA.]