AND IN MANY OTHER PLACES.
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A f r i c a , in the islands o f P u n c k and L o s Idolos, cat a earth o f which he had himself eaten, w i t h o u t b e i n g i n c o m m o d e d b y it, and which also was a white and friable steatite. T h e s e examples o f earth-eating in the torrid zone appear very strange. "We are struck b y the anomaly o f finding a taste, which m i g h t seem t o b e l o n g only t o t h e inhabitants o f t h e m o s t sterile regions, prevailing a m o n g races o f rude and indolent m e n , w h o live in the finest and m o s t fertile countries on the g l o b e . W e saw at P o p a y a n , and in several mountainous parts o f P e r u , lime r e d u c e d t o a v e r y fine p o w d e r , sold in the public m a r k e t s t o t h e natives a m o n g other articles o f f o o d . T h i s p o w d e r , w h e n eaten, is m i n g l e d with coca, that is, with the leaves o f t h e E r y t h r o x y l o n p e r u vianum. I t is well k n o w n , that Indian messengers take n o other aliment f o r w h o l e days than lime and coca: both excite the secretion o f saliva, and o f the gastric j u i c e ; they take away the appetite, without affording any nourishment t o the b o d y . I n o t h e r parts o f S o u t h A m e r i c a , o n t h e coast, o f Rio de la Hacha, the Guajiros swallow lime alone, without adding any vegetable matter t o it. T h e y carry with them a little box filled with lime, as w e do snuff-boxes, and as in A s i a p e o p l e carry a b e t e l - b o x . This American custom excited the curiosity o f the first Spanish navigators. Lime blackens t h e t e e t h ; and in the Indian A r c h i p e l a g o , as among several American hordes, to blacken the teeth is t o beautify t h e m . I n t h e c o l d r e g i o n s o f t h e k i n g d o m o f Q u i t o , the natives o f T i g u a eat habitually from choice, and without any injurious consequences, a very line clay, mixed With quartzose sand. This clay, suspended in water, renders it milky. We find in their huts large vessels filled with this water, which serves as a beverage, a n d which t h e I n dians call agua o r leche de llanka.* W h e n we reflect on these facts, we perceive that the appetite for clayey, magnesian, and calcareous earth is m o s t common a m o n g the people o f the torrid z o n e ; that it is n o t always a cause o f disease ; and that s o m e tribes eat earth from choice, whilst others (as the O t t o m a c s in America, and the inhabitants o f New Caledonia, in the Pacific) eat it from want, a n d t o appease h u n g e r . A great n u m b e r of * Water or milk of clay. Llanka is a word of the general language of the Incas, signifying fine clay. 2 K 2