Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce Part 11

In 1720 the Indian Company paid for the privilege 1,500,000 francs per annum; and in 1771 the price was increased to 25,000,000 francs.

Besides France there are thirteen other European states where the tobacco trade is a government monopoly, namely, Austria, Spain, Sicily, Sardinia, Poland, Papal States, Portugal, Tuscany, Modena, Parma, San Marino, Lichtenstein.

From the first cultivation of the plant, its growers saw in the tobacco trade a vast and constantly increasing source of wealth.

They doubtless in some measure comprehended the close relation existing between it and commerce and realized how extensive would be its use.

From the nature of the plant, it affords states and nations an opportunity to engage either in its culture or commerce with the prospect of the largest success. In this respect it is far different from any other tropical plant, and unlike them is capable of being cultivated in portions of the earth far remote from the tropics. In Switzerland and in the Cauca.s.sias it attains to a considerable size, but is nevertheless tobacco although it may possess but few of the excellences of some varieties, still it affords some enjoyment to the user, from the fact that it is the Indian weed. Fairholt speaking of the tobacco trade says:

"The progress of the tobacco trade from the earliest introduction of the plant into Europe until now, is certainly one of the most curious that commerce presents.

That a plant originally smoked by a few savages, should succeed in spite of the most stringent opposition in church and state, to be the cherished luxury of the whole civilized world; to increase with the increase of time, and to end in causing so vast a trade, and so large an outlay of money; is a statistical fact, without an equal parallel."

The tobacco plant notwithstanding its fascinating powers, has suffered many romantic vicissitudes in its fame and character; having been successively opposed and commended by physicians, condemned and eulogized by priests, vilified and venerated by kings, and alternately proscribed and protected by governments, this once insignificant production of a little island or an obscure district, has succeeded in diffusing itself throughout every clime, and--exhilarating and enriching its thousands--has subjected the inhabitants of every country to its dominion. And every where it is a source of comfort and enjoyment; in the highest grades of civilized society, at the shrine of fashion, in the depths of poverty, in the palace and in the cottage, the fascinating influence of this singular plant demands an equal tribute of devotion and attachment.

CHAPTER VI.

TOBACCO-PIPES, SMOKING AND SMOKERS.

The implements used in smoking tobacco, from the rude pipe of the Indian to the elaborate hookah of the Turk, show a far greater variety than even the various species of the tobacco plant. The instruments used by the Indians for inhaling the tobacco smoke were no less wonderful to Europeans than the plant itself.

The rude mode of inhaling the smoke and the intoxication produced by its fumes suggested to the Spaniards a better method of "taking tobacco." Hariot, however, found clay pipes in use by the Indians of Virginia, which though having no resemblance to the smoking implements discovered by Columbus, seem to have afforded a model for those afterward manufactured by the Virginia colony. The sailors of Columbus seemed to have first discovered cigar, rather than pipe-smoking, inasmuch as the simple method used by the natives, consisted of a leaf of maize, which enwrapped a few leaves of the plant.

The next instruments discovered in use among the Indians were straight, hollow reeds and forked canes. Their mode of use was to place a few leaves upon coals of fire and by placing the forked end in the nostrils and the other upon the smoking leaves, to inhale the smoke until they were stupified or drunken with the fumes. Their object in inhaling the fumes of tobacco seemed to be to produce intoxication and insensibility rather than a mode of enjoyment, although the enjoyment with them consisted of seeing the most remarkable visions when stupefied by its fumes. Such were the modes of smoking among the Indians when Columbus planted the banner of Spain in America.

A writer in _The Tobacco Plant_ has given a very interesting description of Indian pipes in use among the natives of both North and South America. He says:

"In the tumuli or Indian grave mounds of the Ohio and Scioto valleys, large quant.i.ties of pipes have been found, bearing traces of Indian ingenuity. That their burial mounds are of great antiquity, is proved by the fact that trees several centuries old are to be found growing upon them. About twenty-five years ago, two distinguished archeologists Squier and Davis--made extensive exploration of these mounds, the results of which were published in an elaborate memoir by the Smithsonian Inst.i.tution. The mounds indicate that an immense amount of labor has been expended upon them, as the earthworks and mounds may be counted by thousands, requiring either long time or an immense population; and there is much probability in the supposition of Sir John Lubbock that these parts of America were once inhabited by a numerous and agricultural population. It may be asked, have the races who erected these extensive mounds become extinct, or do they exist in the poor uncivilized tribes of Indians whom Europeans found inhabiting the river valleys of Ohio and Illinois? Many of these mounds are in the form of serpents and symbolic figures, and were evidently related to the sacrificial worship of the mound builders."

Squier and Davis are of the opinion that:--

"The mound builders were inveterate smokers, if the great numbers of pipes discovered in the mounds be admitted as evidence of the fact. These const.i.tute not only a numerous, but a singularly interesting cla.s.s of remains. In their construction the skill of the maker seems to have been exhausted. Their general form, which may be regarded as the primitive form of the implement, is well exhibited in the accompanying sketch. They are always carved from a single piece, and consist of a flat carved bore of variable length and width, with the bowl rising from the centre of the convex side. From one of the ends, and communicating with the hollow of the bowl, is drilled a small hole, which answers the purpose of a tube; the corresponding opposite division being left for the manifest purpose of holding the implement to the mouth.

"The specimen here represented is finely carved from a beautiful variety of brown porphyry, granulated with various-colored materials, the whole much changed by the action of fire, and somewhat resembling porcelain. It is intensely hard, and successfully resists the edge of the finest-tempered knife. The length of the base is five inches; breadth of the same one inch and a-quarter. The bowl is one inch and a-quarter high, slightly tapering upwards, but flaring near the top. The hollow of the bowl is six-tenths of an inch in diameter. The perforation answering to the tube is one-sixth of an inch in diameter, which is about the usual size. This circ.u.mstance places it beyond doubt that the mouth was applied directly to the implement, without the intervention of a tube of wood or metal."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Indian pipe.]

This is an account of a simple pipe, with a small bowl; but most of the pipes found in the mounds are highly ornamented with elaborate workmanship, representing animals such as the beaver, otter, bear, wolf, panther, racc.o.o.n, squirrel, wild-cat, manotee, eagle, hawk, heron, swallow, paroquet, etc. One of the most interesting of the spirited sculptures of animal forms to be found on the mound pipes, is the representation of the Lamantin, or Manotee, a cetacean found only in tropical waters, and the nearest place which they at present frequent is the coast of Florida--at least a thousand miles away.

According to Sir John Lubbock, these are no rude sculptures, for the characteristics of the animal are all distinctly marked, rendering its recognition complete. Many modern Indians are possessed of a wonderful apt.i.tude for sculpture, and they appear to gladly exchange their work for the necessaries of life.

The material most prized for the purpose of pipe-making is the beautiful red pipe-stone of the Coteau des Prairies, which is an indurated aluminous stone, highly colored with red oxide of iron. It is frequently called "Catlinite," out of compliment to George Catlin, the distinguished collector of Indian traditions, who claims to be the first European that ever visited the Red Pipe-stone Quarry, which is situated amongst the upper waters of Missouri. Catlin gives the following legend as the Indian version of the birth of the mysterious red pipe:--

"The Great Spirit, at an ancient period, here called together the Indian warriors, and standing on the precipice of the red pipe-stone rock, broke from its wall a piece, and made a huge pipe by turning it in his hand, which he smoked over them, and to the north, the south, the east and the west; and told them that this stone was red, that it was their flesh, that they must use it for their pipes of peace, that it belonged to them all, and that the war club and the scalping knife must not be raised on its ground. At the last whiff of his pipe his head went into a great cloud, and the whole surface of the rock for several miles was melted and glazed. Two great ovens were opened beneath, and two women, guardian spirits of the place, entered them in a blaze of fire, and they are heard there yet, answering to the invocations of the priests and medicine-men."

At the pipe-stone quarry there is a row of five huge, granite boulders, which the Indians regard with great reverence, and when they visit the spot to secure some red stone to make pipes, they seek to propitiate the guardian spirits by throwing plugs of Tobacco to them.

Some admirable pieces of pipe-sculpture are produced by the Boheen Indians, who are found on the coast of the Pacific to the south of the Russians. These pipes are made from a soft blue clay stone which is found only in slabs, and the sculptures are wrought on both sides, the pipes being generally covered with singular groups of human and animal forms, grotesquely intermingled.

The Chippewas are also celebrated for their pipes, which are cut out of a close-grained stone of a dark color; and Professor Wilson, of Toronto, states that Pobahmesad, or the Flier, one of the famed pipe-sculptors, resides on the Great Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron.

The old Chippewa has never deviated from the faith of his fathers, as he still adheres to all their rites and ceremonies. He uses the red pipe-stone and other materials in the production of his pipes, which are ingenious specimens of sculpture. The calumet, or pipe of peace, is still an object of special reverence with the Indian tribes, and the pipe-stem is ornamented with six or eight eagle's feathers. Each tribe has an official who takes charge of the calumet, which he keeps rolled up in a bearskin robe; and it's never exposed to view or used, except when the chief enters into a treaty with some neighboring chief. On these occasions the pipe is taken out of its covering by the Indian dignitary, ready charged with the "holy weed," when it is smoked by all the chiefs, each one taking only a single breath of smoke, which is regarded as implementing the treaty. The pipe is then rolled up in its robe of fur, and stowed away in the lodge of its keeper until it is again required. The war pipe is simply a tomahawk, with a perforated handle communicating with the bowl, which is opposite the sharp edge of the weapon. When the Indians joined the British as allies during the American war, they had to be supplied with iron tomahawks of the native pattern, before they could enter the field as allies.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Sculptured pipe.]

Many tribes of Indians use herbs of various kinds to mix with tobacco to reduce its strength, as they are in the habit of exhaling the smoke from the nostrils, and not from the mouth. By the adoption of this means a much smaller quant.i.ty of tobacco suffices to produce the soothing influence on the nervous system so well known to votaries of the weed.

Longfellow, in his great Indian epic of the Song of Hiawatha, has portrayed with graphic power in pleasing verse the mysterious legends describing the birth or inst.i.tution of the peace-pipe by Gitche Manito, "The Master of Life;" and a few extracts from "Hiawatha" may be interesting to ill.u.s.trate the deep significance of the ideas which the Indian holds regarding his relations to the Great Spirit of the Universe, and of the esteem with which he views the peace-pipe, which in the words of Catlin "has shed its thrilling fumes over the land, and soothed the fury of the relentless savage."

Longfellow, in the opening of his poem, says:--

Ye whose hearts are fresh and simple, Who have faith in G.o.d and Nature, Who believe that in all ages Every human heart is human, That in even savage bosoms There are longings, yearnings, strivings, For the good they comprehend not, That the feeble hands and helpless, Groping blindly in the darkness, Touch G.o.d's right hand in that darkness And are lifted up and strengthened;-- Listen to this simple story, To the song of Hiawatha.

He then describes the making of the pipe from the great Red Pipe-Stone Quarry, as follows:--

"On the Mountains of the Prairie, On the great Red Pipe-Stone Quarry, Gitche Manito, the mighty, He the Master of Life, descending, On the red crags of the quarry Stood erect, and called the nations, Called the tribes of men together.

From his foot-prints flowed a river, Leaped into the light of morning, O'er the precipice plunging downward Gleamed like Ishkoodah, the comet.

And the Spirit stooping earthward, With his finger on the meadow Traced a winding pathway for it, Saying to it, 'Run in this way!'

"From the red stone of the quarry With his hand he broke a fragment, Moulded it into a pipe-head, Shaped and fashioned it with figures; From the margin of the river Took a long reed for a pipe-stem, With its dark green leaves upon it; Filled the pipe with bark of willow; With the bark of the red willow; Breathed upon the neighboring forest, Made its great boughs chafe together, Till in flame they burst and kindled; And erect upon the mountains, Gitche Manito, the mighty, Smoked the calumet, the Peace-Pipe, As a signal to the nations."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Pipe of Peace.]

The next verses describe the a.s.sembling of the nations at the call of Gitche Manito, who proceeds to speak to his children words of wisdom and announces that he:

"'Will send a prophet to you, A Deliverer of the nations, Who shall guide you and shall teach you, Who shall toil and suffer with you.

So you listen to his counsels, You will multiply and prosper; If his warnings pa.s.s unheeded, You will fade away and perish!

"'Bathe now in the stream before you, Wash the war-paint from your faces, Wash the blood-stains from your fingers, Bury your war-clubs and your weapons, Break the red stone from this quarry, Mould and make it into Peace-Pipes, Take the reeds that grow beside you, Deck them with your highest feathers, Smoke the calumet together, And as brothers live henceforward!'

"And in silence all the warriors Broke the red stone of the quarry, Smoothed and formed it into Peace-Pipes, Broke the long reeds by the river, Decked them with their brightest feathers, And departed each one homeward, While the Master of Life, ascending Through the opening of cloud curtains, Through the doorways of the heavens, Vanished from before their faces, In the smoke that rolled around him, The Pukwana of the Peace-Pipe!"

Along the northern parts of America, are to be found the Esquimaux population, estimated to number about 60,000.

They are votaries of the weed, making their pipes either out of driftwood, or of the bones of animals they have used for food.

Tobacco is found growing along the whole western sea-board of South America until we reach the northern boundaries of Patagonia. Far inland on the banks of the Amazon, Rio Niger, and other great rivers, the weed has been found in luxurious abundance, with a delightful fragrance.

Stephens, in his "Travels in Central America," says that "the ladies of Central America generally smoke--the married using tobacco, and the unmarried, cigars formed of selected tobacco rolled in paper or rice straw. Every gentleman carries in his pocket a silver case, with a long string of cotton, steel and flint, and one of the offices of gallantry is to strike a light. By doing it well, he may help to kindle a flame in a lady's heart; at all events, to do it bunglingly would be ill-bred. I will not express my sentiments on smoking as a custom for the s.e.x. I have recollections of beauteous lips profaned. Nevertheless, even in this I have seen a lady show her prettiness and refinement, barely touching the straw on her lips, as it were kissing it gently and taking it away. When a gentleman asks a lady for a light, she always removes the cigar from her lips."

The Rev. Canon Kingsley, in his fascinating novel of "Westward Ho!"

has some quaint remarks on the method of smoking described by Lionel Wafer, surgeon to Dampier, which are well worth quoting. He says, "When they, (the Darien Indians,) will deliberate on war or policy, they sit round in the hut of the chief; where being placed, enter to them a small boy with a cigarro of the bigness of a rolling-pin, and puffs the smoke thereof into the face of each warrior, from the eldest to the youngest; while they, putting their hands funnel-wise round their mouths, draw into the sinuosities of the brain that more than Delphic vapor of prophecy; which boy presently falls down in a swoon, and being dragged out by the heels and laid by to sober, enter another to puff at the sacred cigarro, till he is dragged out likewise, and so on till the Tobacco is finished, and the seed of wisdom has sprouted in every soul into the tree of meditation, bearing the flower of eloquence, and in due time the fruit of valiant action."

[Ill.u.s.tration: A Model Cigar.]

Tobacco in the form of cigarettes, is extensively used by the inhabitants of Nicaragua, Guiana, and the dwellers on the banks of the Orinoco, and the use of the weed is not confined to the male s.e.x, but is freely used both by the female and juvenile portions of the community. Mr. Squier, in his "Travels in Nicaragua," states that the dress of the young urchins consists mainly of a straw hat and a cigar--the cigar when not in use being stuck behind the ear, in the manner in which our clerks place their pens. The natives of Guiana use a tube or pipe not unlike a cheroot, made from the rind of the fruit of a species of palm. This curious pipe is called a "Winna," and the hollow is filled with tobacco, the smoking of which affords much enjoyment to the denizens of the swampy regions of Guiana.

Mr. Cooke, in "The Seven Sisters of Sleep," states that a tube much resembling the "Winna" of Guiana was some years ago to be met with in the Tobacconists' Shops in London. The Indian dwelling in the dense forests in the region of Orinoco has found that tobacco is an excellent solace to relieve the monotony of his life; he uses it "not only to procure an afternoon nap, but also to induce a state of quiescence which they call dreaming with their eyes open." We find from voyagers up the Amazon, that smoking prevails not merely amongst the natives inhabiting the regions which skirt that great river, but also amongst the people on the banks of its numerous tributaries. Mr.

Bates the distinguished Naturalist, when making researches far up one of the tributaries of the Amazon, found tobacco extensively cultivated, and some distinguished makers of cigarettes. One maker, Joan Trinidade, was noted for his Tobacco and Tauri cigarettes. This cigar is so named from the bark in which the tobacco is rolled. Some of the tribes inhabiting the district of the lower Amazon indulge in snuff-taking. This snuff is not made from tobacco, it is the produce of a plant of the leguminous order, the seeds being carefully collected and thoroughly dried in the sun before they are pounded in a mortar, when the powder is ready for use. The snuff-making season is quite an event in a Brazilian village, the week or so during which it lasts forming a kind of religious festival mingled with a good deal of indulgence of fermented liquors, chiefly of native origin.