At the time of the conquest the Coca was only used by the Incas, and those of the royal, or rather solar, blood. It was cultivated for the monarch and for the solemnities of their religion; none might raise it to his mouth, unless he had rendered himself worthy by his services to partake of this honour with his sovereign. The plant was looked upon as an image of divinity, and no one entered the enclosures where it was cultivated without bending the knee in adoration. The divine sacrifices made at that period were thought not to be acceptable to Heaven, unless the victims were crowned with branches of this tree. The oracles made no reply, and auguries were terrible if the priest did not chew _coca_ at the time of consulting them. It was an unheard of sacrilege to invoke the shades of the departed great without wearing the plant in token of respect, and the Coyas and Mamas who were supposed to preside over gold and silver, rendered the mines impenetrable unless propitiated by it. In the course of time its use extended, and gradually became the companion of the whole Indian population. To this plant the native recurred for relief in his greatest distress; no matter whether want or disease oppressed him, or whether he sought the favours of Fortune or Love, he found consolation in the “divine plant.” The word by which this plant is known has been referred, for its etymology, to the Aymara language, in which _Khoka_ signifies _tree_ or _plant_. It is known that the shrub producing the Matè or Paraguay tea, the favourite beverage of many South American nations, is called _la Yerba_, i.e. _the plant_. As also in Mexico tobacco was called _yetl_, and by the Peruvians _Sagri_, meaning in those languages _the herb_, so we, occasionally, are apt to designate the latter article _the weed_. Showing, that to those persons or nations who have appropriated such names, trivial in themselves, to the different articles of consumption, these plants were in themselves pre-eminent in the vegetable creation, as, in another instance, we have shown our appreciation of one book above all others, century after century, by the simple designation of _The Book_. In Europe, the historians of the conquest gave the first information of the sacred plant of the Peruvians; this was, however, merely superficial. In 1569, Monardes, and in 1605 Clusius, wrote concerning it, but the leaves of the plant itself were not seen until brought over by one of the companions of La Condamine, Joseph de Jussieu, who nearly lost his life in 1749, while crossing the Cordilleras in search of this plant. He was compelled to cross the mountains, covered as they were with snow, on foot, descending by means of paths cut out like ladders, and overhanging frightful precipices. The intensity of the sun’s rays, reflected by the snow, caused him the most distressing pains in the eyes, and almost blinded him, but the success of his expedition consoled him for the misfortunes that he had endured.