THE coca-leaf is the great source of comfort and enjoyment to the Peruvian Indian; it is to him what betel is to the Hindoo, kava to the South Sea Islander, and tobacco to the rest of mankind; but its use produces invigorating effects which are not possessed by the other stimulants. From the most ancient times the Peruvians have used this beloved leaf, and they still look upon it with feelings of superstitious veneration. In the time of the Incas it was sacrificed to the Sun, the Huillac Umu or high priest chewing the leaf during the ceremony; and, before the arrival of the Spaniards, it was used, as the cacao in Mexico, instead of money. After the conquest, although its virtues were extolled by the Inca Garcilasso de la Vega,[315] and by the Jesuit Acosta,[316] some fanatics proposed to proscribe its use, and to root up the plants, because they had been used in the ancient superstitions, and because its cultivation took away the Indians from other work. The second council of Lima, consisting of bishops from all parts of South America, condemned the use of coca in 1569 because it was a "useless and pernicious leaf, and on account of the belief stated to be entertained by the Indians that the habit of chewing coca gave them strength, which is an illusion of the devil."[317] In speaking of the strength the coca gives to those who chew it, Garcilasso do la Vega relates the following anecdote. "I remember a story which I heard in my native land of Peru, of a gentleman of rank and honour, named Rodrigo Pantoja, who, travelling from Cuzco to Rimac (Lima), met a poor Spaniard (for there are poor people there as well as here) who was going on foot, with a little girl aged two years on his back. The man was known to Pantoja, and they thus conversed. 'Why do you go laden thus?' said the knight. The poor man answered that he was unable to hire an Indian to carry the child, and for that reason he carried it himself. While he spoke Pantoja looked in his mouth, and saw that it was full of coca; and, as the Spaniards abominate all that the Indians eat and drink, as though it savoured of idolatry, particularly the chewing of coca, which seems to them a low and vile habit, he said, 'It may be as you say, but why do you eat coca like an Indian, a thing so hateful to Spaniards?' The man answered, 'In truth, my lord, I detest it as much as any one, but necessity obliges me to imitate the Indians, and keep coca in my mouth; for I would have you to know that, if I did not do so, I could not carry this burden; while the coca gives me sufficient strength to endure the fatigue.' Pantoja was astonished to hear this, and told the story wherever he went; and from that time credit was giving to the Indians for using coca from necessity, and not from vicious gluttony."