It was first
introduced to Europe by the Jesuits in 1639, and after its use had been
established at the Spanish Court in 1640, it commanded a price of 100
crowns a pound. In these circumstances _quinquina_ was, as a matter of
course, subject to adulteration and substitution--practices which
brought their own reward, since the quinine of Loxa, at one time
considered of the highest quality, fell into disrepute when the
gatherers in that province mixed with the real article the bark of other
trees. Perpetually increasing demand led to more careful search for
supplies, and the New Granada of the colonial era owed almost all its
prosperity to the exports of the famed bark, for the output of minerals
dwindled almost to vanishing point.
The Captain-Generalship of Venezuela was chiefly noteworthy for the
Spanish settlements on the Orinoco, where over 4,000 Spaniards were
contained in a dozen or so of villages rather indolently engaged in
cattle raising. Together with tributary Indians, the settlers made up a
total population of nearly 17,000, with over 70,000 head of cattle among
them. Their trade was with the Dutch of Curacoa, who supplied goods in
exchange for cattle, hides, and tobacco.
Pages:
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215