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diff --git a/old/61362-0.txt b/old/61362-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 892363a..0000000 --- a/old/61362-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2912 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Drug Smuggling and Taking in India and Burma, by -Roy K. Anderson - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Drug Smuggling and Taking in India and Burma - -Author: Roy K. Anderson - -Release Date: February 9, 2020 [EBook #61362] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DRUG SMUGGLING AND TAKING *** - - - - -Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - -[Illustration: GROUP OF OPIUM SMOKERS] - - - - - DRUG - SMUGGLING AND TAKING - IN INDIA AND BURMA - - BY - ROY. K. ANDERSON, F.R.S.A. - _Superintendent, Burma Excise Department_ - - “_So deep the power of these ingredients pierced_ - _Even to the inmost seat of mental sight_”—PARADISE LOST - - _ILLUSTRATED_ - - CALCUTTA AND SIMLA - THACKER, SPINK & CO. - 1922 - - PRINTED BY - THACKER, SPINK & CO. - CALCUTTA - - - - -PREFACE. - - -At a time when the drug-evil, as it is called, is attracting so much -attention all over the world, it does not seem out of place to tell the -public something about how conditions in regard to it obtain in India and -Burma. As far as I have been able to ascertain there is no literature on -this subject outside “blue books,” and those admirable compilations are -notoriously dry reading. A novel called “_Dope_” by Sax Rohmer professes -to deal with the drug-evil and the traffic in drugs in the West; but -it is a novel; has a hero, a heroine, a forbidding type of detective, -and some degenerates, and a few impossible Chinamen in it, to give -verisimilitude to the title and all that it implies. - -I do not profess to write as an authority on the subjects I have taken -up. I realise that there are scores of others more experienced, and -infinitely better able to make a book on these subjects than I am; but -there seems to be little hope of their ever getting the better of their -modesty and appearing in print. I write of what I have seen for myself, -and ventilate opinions I have formed which I expect no one to subscribe -to who differs from them. My readers may rest assured, however, that -what I relate is true. I have not consciously exaggerated, nor have I -suppressed facts. I write on a subject in which I am interested; and, -if the attention that has at different times been given to my verbal -accounts is an indication of something more than the polite toleration -of the raconteur, then there are others also who are interested, and I -need offer no apologies for my attempt to supply a deficiency in the -bookshelves of those who want more information. - -A preface often affords the writer an opportunity of performing a -pleasant duty. That which I have to perform is to record my thanks to -Mr. F. W. Dillon, Barrister, and author of “_From an Indian Bar Room_,” -for the trouble he took in reading the manuscript, and his many helpful -suggestions. - - R. K. ANDERSON. - -REDFERN, _26th March, 1921_. - - - - -TABLE OF CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - - PREFACE iii - - CHAPTER - - I. Smuggling and Smugglers 1 - - II. Bribery and Corruption 9 - - III. Informers and Information 14 - - IV. Some Anecdotes of Smugglers and Smuggling 20 - - V. More Anecdotes 28 - - VI. Observations on Smugglers and Smuggling 33 - - VII. Opium 35 - - VIII. Opium Smoking and Opium Eating 44 - - IX. Some Observations on the Opium Habit 51 - - X. Morphia 57 - - XI. Cocaine 65 - - XII. Hemp Drugs 75 - - APPENDIX. An Historical Note on Opium in India and - Burma 82 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS. - - - Group of Opium Smokers Frontispiece - Facing page - An Excessive Opium Smoker 40 - Opium Smokers’ Appliances 46 - Preparing to Smoke Opium 48 - Chinaman Smoking Opium 50 - Group of Morphia Injectors 58 - An Indian Morphinist 62 - A Burman Cocaine Eater 72 - - - - -SMUGGLING. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -SMUGGLING AND SMUGGLERS. - - -Everybody is a smuggler at heart! - -Our innate free-trade instincts and love of liberty revolt against what -we look upon as uncalled for interference with our rights when we are -called upon to declare and pay duty on a box of cigars or a bottle of -whisky when we disembark at a Customs port; and we look upon evasions of -these obligations, not as evidences of moral obliquity, but as a very -proper exercise of the exemption which we claim as our right. On the -whole, this point of view is to be sympathized with, and in the case -of such innocuous articles as laces, scent, and feathers, it is to be -excused; the mysteries of the revenue law, and the underlying principles -of taxation, are unfamiliar to most of us. But a greater degree of -culpability must be attached to those who seek to evade the law by the -illicit importation of articles whose unrestricted use produces nothing -but harm; and while the former class of delicts may be classed as mere -revenue offences, the latter must be treated as crimes and severely -punished as such. - -It is in the nature of things that articles which have come to be looked -upon as necessaries of life, such as tea, tobacco, wine and spirits, -should be taxed moderately; and indeed, were any attempt made to -render them less easily obtained by raising the taxes on them, unless -this course was vital in the interests of the country, there would be -just reasons for profound popular dissatisfaction and disgust; but in -the matter of noxious intoxicating drugs the case is reversed, and -authoritative opinion inclines to the highest taxation, or even to total -prohibition. Opium is taxed to a point little short of prohibition; -morphia and cocaine are entirely prohibited to the public except for -medical purposes; and hemp drugs are highly taxed in India, and totally -prohibited in Burma. Those who quarrel with this state of things are such -as have become habituated to these drugs, and of this class there is, -unhappily, a large number, so large a number indeed, that their demand -for a regular and sufficient supply constitutes a rich market, a market -which is supplied by the smuggler who reaps abundant profits. - -As in the case of other articles of commerce—and smuggling is as much -a branch of commerce as the traffic in rice or jute—the scarcity or -abundance of supply of drugs is what regulates their price in the illicit -market. Normally, opium is sold from Government Opium Shops at from -Rs. 100 to Rs. 123 a seer. Illicitly, it costs from Rs. 200 to Rs. 300 -a seer, and when scarce, from Rs. 350 to Rs. 400 a seer. Illicitly, -cocaine and morphia are sold at from five to six times the chemist’s -price. It is true that the smuggler has to pay and maintain a large staff -of assistants, and has to bear other heavy expenses, but the net profit -he eventually gets is a very substantial one. - -It is impossible to entirely prevent smuggling: the interested motives of -mankind will always prompt them to attempt it. All that the Government -can do is to compromise with an offence which, whatever the criminal law -on the subject may say, appears to the mind of the smuggler, and of the -drug habitué he supplies, as not at all equalling in turpitude those acts -which are clear breaches of the elementary principles of ethics. - -To the generality of people the smuggler is a bold, bad man with a -fierce, heavily-whiskered face, and armed to the teeth with knives, -pistols, and other lethal accoutrements. His surroundings are a rugged -cliff, with a roaring surf at its feet; while a dimly lit cave, stocked -with barrels of spirit and bales of tobacco, completes the mental -picture. In reality the smuggler—the Indian smuggler at any rate—is -nothing of the sort. To all appearances he is a respectable, well-to-do, -easy-going merchant with a flourishing business in piece-goods, rice, -or timber. But he is a thorough-paced smuggler for all that, and -his business is merely a blind to his real occupation which is the -importation and traffic in opium, cocaine, morphia, and hemp-drugs. It -is this business which is the real source of his wealth; it is his mind -that directs and accomplishes great ventures in smuggling. - -To be successful as a smuggler, a man needs to have more than ordinary -ability. His powers of organization, and the ability to rapidly -appreciate a situation, must be of the first order, and in addition, -he must be endowed with an unusually large measure of low cunning and -deceit. It is true that the smuggler’s plans sometimes miscarry, but -this is usually owing to treachery on the part of one of his assistants. -The possibility of such treachery exemplifies the need the smuggler has -for a strong personality and ability to judge character, and appraise -men at their true worth; its infrequency testifies to the possession by -smugglers of these qualities in an unusual degree. - -It must not be supposed that the smuggler takes a very active part in his -nefarious traffic; it is doubtful whether he ever sees the drugs for the -importation of which he is responsible. His assistants look to all minor -details, he only supplying the necessary money, and directing operations -as a general directs an army in the field. His host of underlings realise -only too well how relentless would be the fate that would overtake them -were they to “give away” their employer, for those who have proved -faithless to their trust have not survived long enough to enjoy the -fruits of their perfidy! The faithful ones know they have nothing to lose -or fear. Fines are paid by their employer, and jail has no terrors for -them, because their families are provided for by the smuggler while they -are away, and they return to their employment and the society of their -companions after release from a course of hard, healthful, muscle-forming -labour. - -So far I have dealt exclusively with the man who smuggles in a large -and extended way. He might be likened to the big importer of ordinary -business. But, as in ordinary business, there are the retailers: those -who take the goods to the consumer. These men operate up-country, in the -sense that they work in the interior of the country. They may be agents -of the big men, or they may be merely his customers; but except that -their activities are confined, sometimes within the limits of a single -district, they are otherwise similar to the big men who live in the -cities. More often than not these men take an active and personal part in -disseminating drugs, and consequently coming frequently into contact with -the authorities, are more often brought to book for their misdemeanours. -But they do not have much at stake, and rarely risk more than they can -afford to lose if plans go wrong. Of course, there are these men in big -cities also; as a matter of fact there are a host of them in every big -city. To the square mile, there are many more consumers in a city than in -the interior, and as the big smuggler cannot be troubled with retailing -minute quantities of drugs, there is plenty to do for the lesser lights. - -Why is it that these importers are never brought to book, is a question -that might reasonably be asked. The answer is simple. It is because they -never by chance handle the goods; they never allow it into their houses. -That a certain man is a smuggler is well known to the authorities. In -fact, the suspect will cheerfully admit it; he will even go as far as -telling them how it was that they failed to seize his last consignment -of contraband, and defy them to seize the next one he expects to import! -But he is perfectly acquainted with the law, and he knows that he cannot -be touched unless the contraband is found in his actual possession, -or, under such circumstances, within his house or its precincts, that -possession of it cannot be ascribed to anyone but himself. The law -prescribes a punishment for any person who, according to general repute, -earns his living, wholly or in part, by opium or morphia trafficking. The -smuggler evades the first part of this provision by keeping a mercantile -business going; and relies upon his personality, and the dread he -inspires in those who might otherwise seek to interfere with him, for -avoiding the second. The instinctive reluctance of respectable people to -make themselves party to judicial proceedings, and a very understandable -fear of extremely unpleasant consequences to themselves, deters them -from coming forward to give evidence against the smuggler, and this is -a great handicap to this very excellent piece of legislation. All that -the executive can hope to do is to seize as much of his contraband as -possible, and so, gradually, deprive him of the means to carry on his -trade. - -Smugglers have been reduced to impotence in this way, by repeated seizure -of their wares, but their number is not numerous. The weak link in the -chain that can be wound round the smuggler is, indubitably, the corrupt -preventive officer. It is regrettable, but nevertheless true, that a -proportion of the preventive staff is corrupt and amenable to bribes. The -smuggler pays them handsomely to keep their eyes closed, and their mouths -shut, and being poorly paid by Government the temptation to bribery, -which swells their monthly incomes to four or five times what they -legitimately earn, is too great to resist. Besides this, many of the men -recruited are not of the type most suitable. Their ideals of honesty are -nebulous, self-respect to them consists merely in wearing clean clothes. -It is a fact that a certain official once appointed his man-servant to -the subordinate grade of a preventive department. Rumour had it that -this servant was brother to the woman this official was keeping as his -mistress, but that was mere scandal, and probably untrue. At the same -time, one cannot expect much from a staff which can be recruited in -so haphazard a manner. In other walks of life, the need for cautious -recruitment is not so vital, and the need to pay for honesty is not so -great as in departments whose duty it is to safeguard the revenue, and -ensure the moral welfare of the people. It should be made a principle -that for every ten rupees paid for actual work, fifty rupees will be -paid for its honest performance. The need for this is accentuated in -departments in which cupidity, which exists to a greater or less extent -in every man, is excited and tempted to the utmost. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION. - - -No matter how powerful and reckless of consequences a smuggler may be, -there is, nevertheless, a lurking respect in his bosom for the myrmidons -of the Law. It is to his interest to have the authorities on his side, -and, as he cannot have them on other terms, he must pay them handsomely. -An excise or police officer, especially if he be of the lower ranks, can -make it uncommonly uncomfortable for a smuggler; and it may be taken -for granted that a smuggler is not completely satisfied until he has a -large proportion of the preventive staff in his pay. To some, however, -he will pay nothing because he has nothing to fear from incapables; some -who occasionally come in his way he will tip with the economy of the -uncle who tips his nephew; but to the able ones, the ones that can make -it very warm for him, he will pay handsome monthly salaries, and he will -look upon the outlay as money well invested. It is in this way that the -smuggler keeps his traffic going; it is thus that he makes it possible to -smuggle with profit. - -Now, the preventive can only prevent by seizing contraband articles; so -that it stands to reason that its efficiency, and the ability of the -individuals who compose it, must be judged largely by results; by the -number of arrests made, and the quantity of contraband seized. An able -officer who makes no hauls may be not unjustly put down as a bribe-taker, -and a chief who knows that there is lots of contraband to be seized for -the trying, will come down heavily on such a subordinate. - -What does the smuggler do when the well-paid watchdog of the Law comes -to him and tells him that he will be obliged to seize some, if not all, -of the smuggler’s next consignment of opium, because the game is, to all -intents and purposes, up? Does he wring his hands and roundly curse his -ill luck? No; he merely smiles and advises the watchdog to stand at the -corner of such-and-such a street, near so-and-so’s shop between certain -hours next morning, and search the man who passes him with a spotted -bandanna round his neck, and a bundle under his right arm. The watchdog -acts on the advice, searches the man with the spotted bandanna, finds two -cakes of opium, and walks the culprit off to the police station. For this -he is commended and paid a reward; the smuggler gets off with the loss -of two cakes of opium instead of the hundred he stood to lose; and the -man with the spotted bandanna who is ultimately sent to prison for six -months, merely fulfils the duty for which he is paid a regular monthly -salary. - -The foregoing is an example of the methods of smugglers, and of the -cupidity of some of the staff employed by Government to guard its -revenues. But it is only one. It would weary the reader to be told of -the scores of other means employed. The smuggler, knowing that a certain -officer is financially embarrassed, will approach him with the offer of -a loan, and accept a note of hand for the accommodation. That note of -hand releases the smuggler from all further obligation to pay the officer -in question. He is well aware that certain dismissal of the latter must -result if he shows the scrap of paper in the proper quarter. He has the -unfortunate man completely in his hands. But it is obvious that there can -be little to fear from a man who provides such damning evidence against -himself. - -People might well ask how it is that so much corruption can go on and -yet no one be caught and punished. Now, it is a well-known principle -of evidence that one man’s word is as good as another’s, and in law, -no matter how convincing the truth of a man’s story might be, it -must usually be corroborated before a magistrate will convict. The -giving and receiving of bribes are, by their very nature, secret -transactions—transactions to which there are no independent witnesses, -so that it is very rarely that the charge can be brought home; and it is -usually only those cases in which a confirmed bribe-taker has been lured -into a trap, skilfully laid with the aid of marked notes or coins, which -have a satisfactory conclusion. It must, moreover, be borne in mind that -the giver or offerer of a bribe is just as much liable in law as the -receiver or solicitor of it; so that it is seldom that a complaint to a -magistrate is made. - -The two anecdotes I give here will afford the reader food for thought: - -X was a responsible officer. He had the control of a district, and was -widely respected. One afternoon, when at office, he had occasion to -leave his room, and on his return to it, found ten one-hundred rupee -notes under a paperweight on his table. He well knew who had placed them -there. He took three of these notes to his superior officer, and with -much apparent indignation, handed them to him, and asked that the sum -be credited to Government. The guileless superior, ever after thought -highly of X’s honesty, and reported on him in flattering terms. X became -a richer man by seven hundred rupees! - -Now for the second story: - -Y was one night visited by a smuggler who produced a bag containing five -hundred rupees, and offered the money as a bribe. Y stormed at him, and -calling in his men, had the smuggler arrested, and sent up for trial on a -charge of offering a bribe. The money was produced and counted in court. -“How many rupees are there there?” enquired the smuggler. “Five hundred -rupees,” replied the magistrate. “Oh!” said the rascal, “The bag had a -thousand rupees in it when I gave it to the sahib!” And Y was generally -regarded as a taker of bribes for the rest of his official life. So does -fate sometimes serve the virtuous! - -I have given the seamy side of things here. There are, however, many -excellent and deserving men in preventive departments—men who would -rather stay poor than sell their honour. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -INFORMERS AND INFORMATION. - - -Of all those who threaten the smuggler with arrest and loss, the informer -is the one he fears most, and accordingly regards with bitter hatred as -his greatest foe. - -Without information, the hands of the executive are tied; without -informers, they would be wholly ineffective; and except for a chance -seizure now and then, there would be little for them to do. As things -are, the organization of a detective department is so linked up with -informers and information that one finds it difficult to conceive of -its existing with these eliminated. Detectives of the Sherlock Holmes -type exist only in fiction, and although it goes without saying that -powers of observation above the ordinary, and an intimate knowledge of -men are indispensable in a detective, it is equally indispensable that -a detective, as things are, must rely upon information if he wishes -successfully to solve any problem of crime. - -In writing about informers, I deal mainly with the professional -blackguards who make a regular living out of giving information. I do not -include those who, to work off a grudge, or who, having seen a crime -committed, lodge information in the proper quarter.—I do not look upon -these as _informers_. The first is a mean-minded person; the second, one -who has a very proper conception of his duty towards society. But the man -I deal with is essentially a blackguard, and a very despicable blackguard -at that. He has only one object in view when he gives information, and -that object is money. He is not burdened with notions of his duty as a -citizen. If there was no money to be made out of giving information, -he would be the last to go a step out of his way to give any; but he -recognizes his value as an important factor in detection, places a price -on it, and is paid generously. - -I have often been asked by magistrates whether my informers were -respectable men. I have felt no hesitation in answering the question -emphatically in the negative, and I have no doubt I often set them -wondering. But one has only to give the matter a moment’s consideration -to see how diametrically opposed to all one’s notions of fair-play and -honour must be the nature and calling of an informer. He must for a time -pose as the friend and confidant of his victim, and then turn traitor; -and he must bribe, coerce, and wheedle from their allegiance scores of -subordinates who would otherwise serve their masters with unswerving -loyalty. He is the tempter _in excelsis_; he is unscrupulous in the -extreme; he is utterly bad. But for all this, he is, as I have already -said, a very necessary link in the chain of detection, and we may, like -the pharisee, take comfort in the thought that we are not as other men -are—even as these informers! The “_unco gude_” would find a monotonous -sameness in their existence if there were none to set-off their unco -gudeness! - -Nowhere is the need for sharp-witted informers so keenly felt as in -departments whose duty it is to prevent smuggling, and it may be taken -for granted that the greater the blackguard the fellow is, the more -useful he will be, and the more useful an informer is to the executive, -the greater danger he goes in of losing his life (because the smuggler -does not hesitate as to the means he employs in removing obstacles from -his path). The authorities have therefore to consider these things when -they come to pay the informer. The legislature also protects him by -providing that no officer shall be compelled in a law court to disclose -the name of his informer. That advantage is duly taken of this provision -there need be no doubt. The officer who gives up the name of his informer -has little further information to expect, as the informer very naturally -values his life, and will give no information to an indiscreet and -injudicious officer. - -That the authorities are often imposed upon by informers is a matter of -course. There are lots of men in this world who would like to pay off -an old score against another, and an easy way to do this is to lodge -an information against him. A search of the premises occupied by the -suspect results, and although nothing may be found, the attention of the -neighbourhood is attracted, and for some time the search is a topic of -conversation, which is by no means pleasant for the man whose house is -searched. The disgrace attending such an occurrence is intensified if the -householder happens to be a man who is respected as upright and honest. -Severe punishment is provided by the law for givers of false information, -but such cases are happily not numerous. - -To take action against an informer for giving false information usually -results in deterring genuine informers from giving genuine information; -for there are factors which operate against the success of the genuine -informer. For instance, the object searched for may be removed just -before the search is made, or even during the search, and a blank is -drawn. To prosecute the informer for giving false information in such -circumstances would be manifestly unjust. If he were prosecuted, other -informers would not run the risk of giving information and work would -come to a standstill. Where, then, is the line to run? This is a question -which confronts the executive with ever-increasing perplexity. It seems -to be better to disregard the stray cases of false informing, than to -jeopardise the entire preventive department’s being. A certain officer, -suspecting that a search had been made on false information, issued an -order, _ex cathedra_, that all informations should be verified before -search was made. As the only way in which information can be verified -is by making a search, it is not clear to what extent this order was -conceived in a spirit of bumptiousness, and how much of it in ignorance. - -“Planting,” or the fabrication of false evidence, is a favourite and -much practised trick of the informer. By means best known to himself he -introduces something incriminating into the house of a person against -whom he has a spite, and lays an information. A search is made, the -stuff is found, and very often an innocent man is fined or sent to -jail. Against this there seems to be no remedy, except the employment -of well-known, reliable informers, and also a sort of intuition which -develops with experience in officers themselves. - -In olden days, when coastguards did not exist, Cornwall was a hot-bed -of smuggling, and the temper of the Cornishmen towards informers can be -gauged by the following story which has much in it that is apropos:— - -The Rev. R. S. Hawker, of the parish of Morwenstowe, relates how on one -occasion a predecessor of his presided, as the custom was, at a parish -feast, in cassock and bands, and presented, with his white hair and -venerable countenance, quite an apostolic aspect and mien. On a sudden, -a busy whisper among the farmers at the lower end of the table attracted -his notice, interspersed as it was with sundry nods and glances towards -himself. At last one bolder than the rest addressed him, and said that -they had a great wish to ask his reverence a question, if he would kindly -grant them a reply; it was on a religious subject that they had dispute, -he said. The bland old gentleman assured them of his readiness to yield -them any information in his power, but what was the point in dispute? -“Why, sir, we wish to be informed if there are not sins which God -Almighty will never forgive?” Surprised, and somewhat shocked, he told -them that he trusted there were no transgressions common to themselves, -but if repented of and abjured, they might clearly hope to be forgiven. -But with natural curiosity, he inquired what sorts of iniquities they -contemplated as too vile for pardon. “Why, sir,” replied the spokesman, -“we thought that if a man should find out where run-goods was deposited, -and should inform the Gauger, that such a villain was too bad for mercy!” - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -SOME ANECDOTES OF SMUGGLERS AND SMUGGLING. - - -As an inducement to seize contraband, Government pays its preventive -staff money-rewards which bear a ratio to the value of the stuff seized, -and the ability displayed in seizing it; and an officer who is active and -conscientious very often can earn in this way from three to four times -the amount of his monthly salary. But the seizing of contraband is by no -means easy, as the smuggler has brought concealment to a fine art, and -there seems to be no end to the ingenuity which may be exercised by him -in getting his consignments through safely to their destination. A few -examples will serve to demonstrate this. - -Vigorous search had failed to bring to light the cocaine which was -reported to be on board the S.S. “_Contrebandier_” from Marseilles, -and the search party were about to reluctantly abandon their quest -when attention was directed to a pile of bundles of planks, each -bundle consisting of from four to six half-inch planks, bound together -at each end with iron bands. More from curiosity than with any idea -of discovering cocaine, one of these bundles was pulled apart. The -top plank was found to be intact, and so was the bottom one, but the -intervening planks had had spaces cut through them which were packed with -one-ounce packets of cocaine. A large quantity of the alkaloid, valued -at several thousands of rupees, was found. An illustration to make the -method clear is shown. - -[Illustration: Top plank removed. - -Bundle of planks.] - -Another example: The weekly steamer from India had come into a Burma -port, and the deck-passengers had been lined up on the pier for -inspection by the Customs officers. An excise officer on the pier was -made curious by four natives of India, whose only effects consisted of -earthen pots of water containing small fishes. Knowing that the place to -which these men had come abounded with fish of the best kinds, he was -not convinced when they explained that they had brought these small fry -to stock the local tanks with. A closer scrutiny disclosed the fact -that whereas by percolation the outsides of the pots ought to have been -wet, these were quite dry. Measurements taken with his walking stick -inside a pot and outside it disagreed too greatly to leave any doubt of -the existence of a false bottom, and on breaking a pot, he found that it -not only had a false bottom, but that the inter-space was packed with -segments of opium. The remaining pots, needless to say, were treated in -the same way, and a rich haul was made. An illustration of this method, -also, is given. Considering there was no seam, the workmanship of these -pots was uncommonly clever. - -[Illustration: Space packed with opium. - -Section] - -There are doubtless hundreds of other methods as yet undiscovered by -which smugglers get their goods through safely. There is the heavy -wooden bedstead, whose every leg is hollowed out to receive stuff, whose -frame is but a shell to receive morphia phials. It is likely that the -Chinaman who walks in front of you wearing a pith hat has cut-out spaces -under the padded cover, in the pith, which are occupied by segments of -opium; there is the Holy Bible that comes by post, with a square cut -in the pages, containing opium or some other drug. The ways in which -concealment is practised are legion. The wonder is that so many of these -tricks are discovered! - -But there are a number of cases in which the methods come to light only -after the coup has been completed. A European, Hobson by name, ostensibly -a coffee planter, whose plantation was on the frontier which separates an -opium-producing country from British India, took to smuggling opium down -to city smugglers, and in time accumulated great wealth. His methods were -simple, but on one occasion a consignment he had sent down in charge of -an assistant of his very nearly fell into the hands of the authorities, -and he became more cautious. On one occasion after this, he ordered a -consignment of fifty one-pound tins of tea from an oilmanstore merchant -in the city, and on its arrival, took delivery. Next day, the same -package was returned by rail to the address of the grocer. On arrival of -the package in the city, a European, purporting to be an assistant of -the grocer firm, called at the railway booking office, and producing the -railway receipt, took delivery of the case; the grocer being duly paid, -never knew that the package had ever been returned to his address. The -explanation is that Mr. Hobson had emptied the tea tins when he got them, -refilled them with opium, and sent them back; but the railway receipt was -sent to his assistant who, on arrival of the package, took delivery of -it, and handed it over to the local smuggler in exchange for hard cash! - -How this same Mr. Hobson once played a trick on a prominent detective -will bear relating, even as inadequately as I am able to do it. Hobson -was once travelling down to the city by train, when our sleuth, who -happened to be on tour, entered the same compartment at a small wayside -station. Having already seen Mr. Hobson’s descriptive roll, he had -no difficulty in identifying him as the smuggler whom he had often -dreamt about catching; and having the strongest reason to believe that -H could not possibly know who _he_ was, introduced himself as Mr. -Jackson, travelling for a firm of leather merchants. The two got into -conversation, and our sleuth, being an adept in the art of worming out -details of other people’s affairs, soon got Hobson to open his heart -to him. Facts and figures were eagerly noted whenever Hobson was not -observant of it, and our sleuth was very pleased indeed with himself. -Next morning, however, as he parted from his late companion at the city -railway station, Hobson said, “Good-bye, Mr. ——” addressing him by his -real name, “I am very pleased indeed to have made your acquaintance. -Here,” producing it from his pocket book, “is your latest photograph! Let -me advise you to represent anything but leather another time. You don’t -know a thing about it.” And then, as an afterthought, “Better tear up -those notes you took. I’ve told you nothing that isn’t a damned lie!” - -An Indian smuggler once took a rise out of a certain high police -official, whom I shall call Duncan, and thereby made a mortal enemy for -life. F. was the chief smuggler in this city, and his transactions in -illicit drugs ran into lakhs of rupees. It was most desirable that this -prince of smugglers should be brought to book. He was also by way of -being a desperate character; for although it could not be proved, it was -morally certain that more than one of the mysterious murders that had -taken place in recent years had been committed or instigated by him. -One day Duncan got information that F. had a large quantity of drugs, -arms, and ammunition in his house, and that if search were made at once, -F. would, to a certainty, be caught red-handed. This was luck indeed, -and Duncan decided to make the search personally. Collecting a party of -constables, he set out at once, but meeting the Black Maria (prison van) -on its way back to the prison from the Courts, a brilliant idea came -to him, and halting this grim conveyance, he and his party entered it, -giving instructions to the driver to stop opposite F.’s house. Arriving -there, some of the party soon surrounded the house, while Duncan and -the rest of them entered the place. F. was in his “Office,” to all -appearances deeply immersed in piece-goods transactions. - -“F.,” said Duncan, “I am going to search your house on information -received. I believe you have contraband drugs, arms, and ammunition -concealed somewhere on these premises, and I mean to find them. If you -wish to search me and my party before we begin, do so at once.” - -“I am a humble, law-abiding merchant, Sahib, and have no concern with -drugs and firearms. You are quite at liberty to search anywhere you -please.” - -The search began. Duncan, although by no means a young man, worked with -the rest. The place was ransacked from cellar to attic, but not a trace -of what was sought was to be found. Duncan, covered from head to foot in -grime and cob-web, at last reluctantly decided to give it up, and slowly -descended the stairs to the lower room, where he was struck speechless -with indignation. There was a table covered with the whitest of linen -cloths, and groaning under an assortment of fruit and sweetmeats, crowned -by a bottle of Pommery and Greno; while F., with a snowy towel over his -arm, and a silver bowl of water in his hands, greeted Duncan with an -invitation to wash and partake of refreshment “as your honour looks tired -and dusty.” - -“Damn you! I shall have you yet,” said the infuriated Duncan when he -found his tongue; and strode out of the house with rage and hatred in -his heart! - -It was discovered later that F., in a mischievous mood, had himself -forwarded the information on which Duncan acted! - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -MORE ANECDOTES. - - -Bloody encounters with smugglers are rare, but they do happen sometimes, -and as it is always on the cards that active opposition may be -encountered when a party sets off to intercept a smuggler on his way to -“market,” the work of an exciseman is not entirely free from danger. Very -often when a smuggler goes on a journey, he travels armed with sword or -spear; sometimes with a musket; sometimes even with a modern revolver -or shot-gun. He is prepared to use these, and unless the intercepting -party gets the “drop” on him, he will put up a good fight. Unfortunately, -the officer, as a rule, though acquainted to some extent with the law -governing the right of private defence of public servants acting in an -official capacity, does not take full advantage of it; he has not been -bred to kill; and it is probable that there is a lurking fear in him -that the magistrate, who will hold the enquiry, will not see quite eye -to eye with him, and that he may, perhaps, be convicted of a rash and -negligent act, or grievous hurt, if he merely wounds his man, or even, -perhaps, of culpable homicide. To some extent he probably is justified in -so thinking. Not long ago, an officer fired off his pistol in a melee -following on a seizure, and wounded one of his assailants in the arm. -A complaint was made, and the unfortunate young officer was convicted -of grievous hurt, and sentenced to three months rigorous imprisonment -and a fine. It is true he was afterwards retried and acquitted, but he -was in no way compensated for the agony of mind he suffered, or for the -degradation he had undergone in being tried as an ordinary criminal. This -is chiefly to show that there is justification for an officer thinking -twice or oftener before he proceeds to take risks. But the general run of -magistrates are broad-minded men; men who combine with a sound knowledge -of law, worldly wisdom, and a knowledge of the special conditions, and it -is extremely rare for a conscientious officer to be “let down.” I shall -now tell a story based on fact. - -Information was brought to the inspector of ... that a certain well-known -smuggler was on his way to ... and that he had a large quantity -of illicit opium with him. Report had it that he was armed, and, -accordingly, the inspector, providing himself with a revolver of small -calibre—really nothing more than a toy—and his peon, with a shot-gun -loaded with slugs in both barrels, set off with a small party to a -certain pass in the hills near by, through which the smuggler would have -to pass. In due time the smuggler, with a load on his shoulders, and a -Tower musket in his hand, came along. - -“Halt,” called the inspector, jumping from his place of concealment, and -covering the smuggler with his toy revolver. - -The only reply was a flash and bang from the smuggler’s musket, and for -a moment, the air was thick with smoke and nasty whining sounds, as -missiles of all kinds flew past the inspector’s head. - -“Now I will shoot you,” said the inspector, and he fired a shot over the -smuggler. The smuggler poured some powder down his musket barrel. - -“Put down that gun!” ordered the inspector, and he fired another shot -over the smuggler’s head. Now a piece of wadding clanged down under the -smuggler’s ramrod. - -“I shall certainly shoot you now,” threatened the inspector, and another -tiny bullet whistled harmlessly past the smuggler. This time a handful of -slugs went rattling down the long barrel. - -“Can my master be bewitched?” thought the peon, who had the loaded -shot-gun in his hands. “It must be so; but matters are getting too -serious for further argument,” and levelling the gun at the smuggler he -fired off both barrels at once, almost cutting the fellow in halves. -A large quantity of opium was found in the smuggler’s bundle and the -judicial officer who held the inquiry, a man who had risen from the -bottom of the ladder, and whose experience was wide, while admiring the -inspector’s humanity, considered that he had no right to expose himself -and his party in the way he did. He wanted it to be widely known that -smugglers who went armed with the idea of terrorising the executive did -so at the risk of being shot at sight, and he undertook to see that -officers who did this did not suffer. The peon was handsomely rewarded -and promoted for his presence of mind and opportune action. - -Here is another story. - -I had received information that a certain smuggler of repute expected -a big consignment of opium, and that it would reach his house sometime -during the night and be concealed there. It was about nine o’clock in the -evening when I set out, clad in an old grey suit, cap, and muffler, for -the smuggler’s house, intending to conceal myself somewhere near, and -watch proceedings. As I entered the quarter where the smuggler lived, I -was accosted by two beat constables who suggested that I was a member -of the crew of one of the tramp steamers then lying in the harbour. -After apparently satisfying them of my identity, I continued on my way, -and was soon ensconced under a large tree, with the smuggler’s house -and compound in full view. I had not been there an hour, when I heard -the sound of approaching footsteps, and looking round, was not a little -annoyed to find the beat constables again on my track. They had spotted -me in the gloom of the tree, and being suspicious, had come to see who -I was. To me it seemed that there was nothing to be gained after this -by continuing the watch, and so, roundly abusing the two inquisitive -myrmidons of the law, I went home. I was later to regret my unkindness -to my two preservers, for that, indeed, they proved to be. Next morning I -was called upon by one of my spies, who handed me a wicked looking dagger -with a blade at least five inches long. - -“What might this be?” I asked. - -“Sahib,” he replied, “if it had not been for the two policemen that -disturbed your watch last night, that dagger would have taken your life. -While you watched, there was one who watched you with this dagger. When -the two policemen came along, he dropped the weapon and made off.” - -No name was given, and it would have done no good to have taken -proceedings against my would-be assailant, even if I had known his -name. Such things are all in the day’s work. But I had the satisfaction -the same day of going down to the smuggler’s house and unearthing -over a maund of his opium. It is true that he got off at the trial on -a technical point, but he lost a great deal of money, actually and -potentially, and I felt I had called quits to the person who was the -instigator of my attempted murder. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -OBSERVATIONS ON SMUGGLERS AND SMUGGLING. - - -Taken all round, I think it must be admitted that the smuggler is a -sportsman, in the sense that he plays a hazardous game at great personal -risk, at the risk of his fortune, and against great odds. It is true -that he takes all the care he can to minimize risks, but he can never -hope entirely to eliminate the element of danger; and if his game be -divested of all its peccancy, and most of its immorality, we discover in -it the essentials of what goes to make horse-racing so popular a “sport” -all over the civilized world. What is it that attracts millions to a -race-course? Money! The desire to get money coupled with the excitement -of the game. Out of every thousand persons who go to a race-meeting, -nine hundred and ninety-nine go to gain money under feverishly exciting -conditions, and _one_ to see the horses run. Spanish bull-fighting -however it may please the Spaniard, can never be otherwise than -disgusting to an Englishman. But however shocked an Englishman might be -at the ruin the smuggler causes to thousands of his fellow-men, he can -never feel for the smuggler the contempt which he feels for the gaudy -and bespangled Toreador. He recognizes that the smuggler is playing a -dangerous game, sustained by the arts of a subtle intellect, and that he -also possesses the qualities which go to make a good fighter. - -It may be that the smuggler has little notion of the havoc he spreads. -It may be that he argues thus: “There is a demand for drugs, and people -will be supplied by some means or other. They are willing to pay almost -any price for the drugs they want; they are grown up people and well able -to judge for themselves; why should I not make a fortune by supplying -them with their wants at my own price?” This is a form of reasoning which -contains no fallacy for a man unacquainted with the principles of ethics, -and it is certain that the smuggler has not burdened his mind with such -learning, admirable as it may be. - -His offence against the revenue laws provides the smuggler with a -never-ending source of pure delight. Every fresh triumph in this -direction he looks upon as another feather in his already innumerably -be-feathered cap. - -But there can be no question about the dreadful misery for which the -smuggler is directly responsible, and in succeeding chapters I shall -endeavour to give as realistic a picture as I can of the awful results of -this damnable traffic in drugs. - - - - -THE DRUG HABIT. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -OPIUM.[1] - - -It may be taken for granted that most people are in some degree -acquainted with the use of opium, having had it at some time or other -administered to them as a medicine. Dover’s powder, so useful a remedy -for a cold, contains opium; Laudanum is a preparation of it which is -familiar to everybody; and there are scores of other remedies and -proprietary preparations which contain opium to a greater or less extent. -But useful as opium may be, it must be used with discretion, and must not -be allowed to change its character of a faithful servant for that of a -master. It can become an exacting and dominating master, and the habit -once formed is well nigh ineradicable. - -For the information of those who have not seen the pure drug, I may -mention that opium is a dark brown, putty-like substance with an -agreeable, sweetish, odour. It is the dried resin obtained by incising -the unripe capsules of a certain variety of poppy, and is prepared in -large, well-equipped factories, from which it is issued in cakes and -balls weighing eighty tolas.[2] - -The opium industry is a Government monopoly. The poppy crops are grown -under Government supervision, and the factories where it is prepared -belong to Government and are staffed by Government servants. The prepared -product is sold from Government opium shops from which consumers who are -so privileged can get their requirements at a certain fixed price.[3] But -as is the case with all monopolized commodities, opium may assume a money -value far in excess of its intrinsic worth and be sold for its weight in -silver. In fixing the price of opium, Government is confronted with a -choice between two courses: either to sell opium cheap, and so extinguish -the smuggler; or to prohibit it entirely and thereby convert India into -a happy hunting ground for the avaricious and rapacious fortune hunter. -It takes a middle course, therefore, and sells opium at such a rate that -facilities for obtaining it are reasonable, without, on the one hand, -rendering it cheap and easily obtainable, or, on the other, making it -prohibitive. The policy pursued is one of eventual suppression; the -discouragement of recruits to the opium habit being the means employed -as best adapted to bring about its realization. - -The opium habit was an established thing in India centuries before the -British first set foot in the country, and it is surmised that it was -the Arab conquerors, who invaded India in the 11th century who first -introduced it. The cultivation of the poppy, and the preparation of -opium, were live industries in India in the 16th century, as Portuguese -chroniclers tell us, and when the British East India Company took over -the administration of Bengal after Clive’s victory at Plassey in 1757, -all that they found themselves able to do was to adopt a policy of -regulation leading to ultimate suppression. This policy has been followed -ever since. - -It is a fundamental weakness of human nature that we desire most that -which it is most difficult to obtain. It is a perpetuation of the -genesiac myth of the forbidden fruit; and no matter how optimistic some -may be that the opium habit will eventually be stamped out, it is to be -feared that this cannot come about until human nature ceases to be what -it always has been. This contention applies with special cogency to the -opium habit whose insistence in our midst is not only owing to the fact -that it satisfies the sensuousness and voluptuousness which forms a part -of every man’s nature, but that it establishes a dominance over its -victims which requires almost super-human power of will to overthrow. -In a letter to his friend and medical attendant Mr. Gilman, Coleridge, -who was for twenty-five years a victim to the opium habit, writes about -the giving up of it as a “trivial task” and as requiring no more than -seven days to accomplish; yet elsewhere he describes it pathetically, -and sometimes with almost frantic pathos, as the scourge, the curse, -the one almighty blight which had desolated his life. De Quincey very -justly calls this a “very shocking contradiction,” and asks, “Is, indeed, -Leviathan _so_ tamed?” - -It has been more than once suggested that the dissemination of a healthy -propaganda would be the best means of deterring recruits to the opium -habit, and that reliance upon the efforts of a strong preventive staff -can result only in a diminution of the vice, and not its extinction. On -some, such propaganda might have the desired effect; but with others, -it may have just that effect which we seek to avoid. There is always a -desire to experience new and strange sensations; there are always some -who want an unfailing panacea for pain of body or mind; there are always -some who long for oblivion. All these things are to be got from opium—the -sovereign panacea for pain, grief, “for all human woes”; a weaver of -dreams and ecstasies! And so, with the personal equation always solving -itself, the problem remains to all intents and purposes unsolvable. - -Let us see what the effects of opium are. A writer on the subject says, -“A small dose not unfrequently acts as a stimulant: there is a feeling -of vigour, a capability of severe exertion, and an endurance of labour -without fatigue. A large dose often exerts a calming influence with a -dreamy state in which images and ideas pass rapidly before the mind -without fatigue, and often in disorder, and without apparent sequence. -Time seems to be shortened as one state of consciousness quickly succeeds -another, and there is a pleasant feeling of grateful rest. This is -succeeded by sleep which, according to the strength of the dose, and -the idiosyncrasy of the person, may be light and dreamy, or like normal -profound sleep, or deep and heavy, passing into stupor or coma. From -this a person may awaken with a feeling of depression, or langour, or -wretchedness, often associated with sickness, headache, or vomiting.” -I have verified these statements by questioning numerous consumers of -opium, and, in substance, their descriptions tallied exactly with that I -have quoted. - -How the opium habit is first contracted is a matter which deserves -investigation, but it would seem that the most fertile cause is its -injudicious administration in its character of an anodyne. De Quincey, -in his “_Confessions of an English Opium-Eater_” tells us that he first -took opium for a severe toothache. The poet Coleridge, who, like De -Quincey, was a confirmed opium-eater, “began in rheumatic pains”; and -if a census of consumers was taken, it would not be surprising to find -that eighty _per cent._ of them were first introduced to this “dread -agent of unimaginable pleasure and pain” by its being given them for a -stomachache, toothache, or some such wrecker of the peace of their mind. -The other twenty _per cent._ are the victims of curiosity. The Burman is -said to get the taste for opium when he is drugged with it while young, -when he is, according to Burmese custom, tattoed from the waist to above -his knees. - -Nobody needs to be told that a habit is formed by the frequent repetition -of acts or indulgences, and that some habits are more difficult to break -ourselves of than others. The opium habit falls in this category. It -is formed, of course, in the same way as other habits, but there are -peculiarities connected with it on which those who are ready to condemn -opium-eaters as degenerates might well ponder. The physiological effects -of opium are such, that the wearing off of the effects of a dose are -attended with the keenest mental and physical distress. No one who -has not been an opium-eater can describe these adequately. The need, -therefore, for a corrective of this condition becomes what seems an -urgent necessity, and the only immediate corrective is “a hair from the -dog.” A succession of these “hairs”—and a not very long succession—forms -the habit. Unlike other habits, it is a habit that cannot be cured -without immense strength of will, and a readiness to undergo great -suffering: pains in the body, diarrhœa, and a general upset of the mental -equilibrium. We see, therefore, that the cause of the habit lies here: -_the need for opium to alleviate the pangs caused by opium_. - -[Illustration: AN EXCESSIVE OPIUM SMOKER] - -Amongst unromantically inclined people of the type who form the bulk of -consumers—cultivators, coolies, artisans of all kinds, humble folk whose -creed is “pice and rice”—it would be difficult (and ludicrous) to suppose -that their object in taking opium is to go in their dreams to: - - “Woods that wave o’er Delphi steep - Isles, that crown the Aegian deep, - Fields that cool Ilissus’ laves - Or where meander’s amber waves - In lingering lab’rinths creep.” - -Possibly, they do have pleasant dreams; but the exertion and hard -exercise they must undergo to earn their daily bread is known to -counteract the sedative effects of opium; and as they take small -quantities only, its effect is to stimulate them rather than to make -them dreamy and sensuous; and I contend that, _primâ facie_, it is not -to evoke sensuous imaginings that these people take opium. They take it -because they cannot get away from it, once the pain to ease which it -was given has passed. What strength of will do we expect to find in an -unlettered cooly? - -Without any apology I reproduce here some verses which appeared in 1894, -about the time when the Royal Opium Commission came to India: - - THE OPIUM-EATER’S SOLILOQUY. - - They began by mourning over my degraded moral state, - Then my physical decadence they would anxiously debate. - Then they raised a pious eye, - And they heaved a pitying sigh, - And they shuddered as they pondered on my melancholy fate. - - Now, I never had reflected on the matter thus, at all, - For my luxuries were few, and my expenditure was small. - I was happy as the day, - In my own abandoned way, - Till they said they must release me from the bonds that held me - thrall. - - I’d been cheered up at my _Chandoo_[4] shop, for years at least - two score, - To perform my daily labour, and was never sick or sore; - But they said this must not be; - So they passed a stern decree, - And they made my _Chandoo_ seller shut his hospitable door. - - Now they’re sending out Commissions with the philanthropic view - Of inducing us to part with sev’ral crores of revenue; - For all opium traffic’s sin, - And, although it brings in tin, - Our nefarious trade papaverous, they say we must eschew. - - Who’d have thought that my redemption would have cost so many lakhs - (For they saddle their expenses on my fellow-subjects’ backs). - What with deficits to square, - And Commissions everywhere, - On the “hoarded wealth of India” I shall prove a heavy tax. - - If I’d only cultivated, now, a taste for beer or gin, - Or had learnt at Pool or Baccarat my neighbour’s coin to win, - I could roam abroad o’ nights, - And indulge in these delights, - And my soul would not be stigmatized as being steeped in sin! - - But as mine’s a heathen weakness for a creature-comfort, far - Less pernicious than their alcohol, more clean than their cigar, - They have sent their howlings forth, - From their platform in the North, - And ’twixt me and my poor pleasures have imposed a righteous bar! - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -OPIUM SMOKING AND OPIUM-EATING. - - -There are two modes of taking opium. It is either eaten in its crude -form, or it is clarified with water and smoked in a pipe of peculiar -construction. - -It is generally conceded that opium smoking is less injurious than opium -eating, bulk for bulk, of the amount consumed, and that the intemperate -or immoderate opium smoker is less liable to the toxic effects of opium -than the man who eats it raw. Why this is will be clear when it is -explained that as a result of the process of preparation for smoking it, -which consists in boiling opium with water, filtering several times, -and boiling it down again to a treacly consistency, a considerable -portion of the narcotine, caoutchouc, resin, and other deleterious -elements are removed, and this prolonged boiling and evaporation have -the effect of lessening the amount of alkaloids in the finished product. -The only alkaloids likely to remain in the prepared opium, and capable -of producing marked physiological effects, are morphia, codeia, and -narceia. Morphia in its unmixed state can be sublimed; but codeia and -narceia are said not to give a sublimate. But even if not sublimed in the -process, morphia would, in the opinion of Mr. Hugh M’Callum (Government -Analyst at Hong Kong), be deposited in the bowl of the pipe before the -smoke reached the mouth of the smoker. The bitter taste of morphia is -not noticeable when smoking opium, and it is therefore possible that the -pleasure derived from smoking opium is due to some product formed during -combustion. This supposition is rendered probable by the fact that the -opium most prized by smokers is not that containing the most morphia. - -But what constitutes moderation or the reverse? The answer is -idiosyncrasy, or the degree of toleration. This is a factor which is -lost sight of by most of those who declaim against the occasional glass -or pipe. They wish to push temperance to the point of total abstinence, -and condemn the man who takes a peg of whisky without evil results, -with the man who becomes maudlin after taking a single glass of white -wine, for it is only by outward appearances they are able to judge. But -leaving them to rage in their ignorance, we must recognise the fact that -opium is one of those drugs the effects of which depend largely upon -personal idiosyncrasy and toleration. Dr. Chapman, in his _Elements of -Therapeutics_, gives two instances of remarkable cases of toleration of -opium. In one, a wineglassful of laudanum was taken by a patient several -times in the twenty-four hours; and in another, a case of cancer, the -quantity of laudanum was gradually increased to three pints daily, a -considerable quantity of crude opium being also taken in the same period! - -The usual dose, as a medicine, is from one to three grains of opium, -but a consumer can take from ten to twenty, while I have met many -able to take from sixty to eighty grains. The degree of tolerance is -increased by usage and habit, and the tendency is to increase the dose -with habituation. With smokers, it is not uncommon to find Chinamen, -the heaviest consumers of opium in the world, who can dispose of three -tolas[5] of opium in the day; but they smoke it, and so can stand far -more of it than if they ate it in the crude state. - -The reader who has troubled to come so far with me will not unreasonably -be curious to know how opium is smoked; so, if he will accompany me -farther, I will take him into a den and satisfy his curiosity. It is a -Chinese den. From the street it has nothing to proclaim its character; -it is like any other entrance in the street. Ah! Here comes a smoker. -Observe his deathly pallor, his appearance of emaciation, his dazed -expression. He must be a heavy smoker, soaked in the vice. Let us go in -with him! We enter. For a moment the dimness of the room flanked on three -sides with raised wooden platforms waist-high, and covered with mats, -is accentuated by our sudden entrance from the sunlit street. We become -aware of a peculiar odour in the atmosphere of the room, not unpleasant, -but peculiar. It is like nothing that we have ever sniffed before. It is -the odour of smoked opium. When our eyes, having got used to the light, -or rather darkness, of the room, we look round and see on the platforms, -sleeping forms sprawled round trays containing their smoking utensils. -Let us examine these: First there is the pipe. It is made of a single -joint of bamboo about a foot and a half long, hollow, and closed at one -end, and about an inch in diameter. About a quarter of its length up -from the closed end, there is an earthenware protuberance, not unlike a -door-knob in appearance, firmly fixed into the stem; on its top, and in -the centre, is a small orifice. This is the pipe-bowl. - -[Illustration: OPIUM SMOKERS’ APPLIANCES] - -Next we notice a lamp. This has a base of wood, and consists of a glass -reservoir of oil, with a string wick leading from it through a small -brass cap. Over this is a glass chimney. - -Then we see the wire, like an ordinary fine knitting needle; and several -horn phials, each containing prepared opium. - -[Illustration: PREPARING TO SMOKE OPIUM - -(The opium on the end of the dipper being roasted over the lamp.)] - -But here is the new-comer whom we followed in. He has paid the den-keeper -the small fee which makes him the temporary owner of a tray of smoking -utensils, and with these he passes us, and getting on to the platform -between two sleepers, he puts his tray down, and assumes a recumbent -attitude beside it. Lying on his left side, with his head on a hard -lacquered pillow, he draws the tray towards him and takes the pipe in his -left hand. With the other hand he takes the piece of wire, and plunges -one end of it into the horn phial containing treacly prepared opium, -withdrawing it immediately with a drop of the fluid adhering to the -point. This he maintains on the point by rapidly twirling the instrument -between two fingers, and carrying it over the flame of the lamp, he -proceeds to roast the opium. This is a delicate operation, and requires -practice. The needle is dipped into the phial again and again, and the -opium adhering to the end roasted over the flame until an appreciable -quantity of the drug has accumulated on the end of the wire. He rolls -this accumulation, still on the end of the dipper, on the flattened top -of the pipe bowl, until it has acquired the desired shape, and then -thrusts the end into the orifice in the centre of the bowl, and twirling -the wire sharply round, withdraws it, leaving the opium in the orifice. -Now, taking the lower end of the pipe in his right hand, and the mouth -end of the pipe in his left, he applies the open end to his lips and -holding the bowl almost inverted over the top of the lamp begins to take -long inhalations, the smoke escaping through his nostrils. The little -plug of opium in the orifice crackles and burns in the heat of the flame, -and we notice that the smoker now and then scrapes towards the orifice -in the bowl, all the particles of opium which remain unburnt. He finally -clears the orifice by thrusting the wire into it several times, and -disconnects the bowl from the stem. We notice it contains an appreciable -quantity of black, evil-smelling opium residue. This is the “dross,” -carefully preserved by smokers, and later on boiled with raw opium to -which it is believed to add strength. We watch him smoke a few more -pipes, and eventually the pipe falls from his nerveless hands, and he -lies still. What are the dreams which flock through his mind? We do not -know, but Bayard Taylor in his book _India, China and Japan_ tells us of -his personal experience of the effects of opium smoking. It was his first -and last attempt, and his record is interesting. He says:—“To my surprise -I found the taste of the drug as delicious as its smell is disagreeable. -It leaves a sweet, rich, flavour, like the finest liquorice, upon the -palate, and the gentle stimulus it conveys to the blood in the lungs -fills the whole body with a sensation of warmth and strength. The fumes -of the opium are no more irritating to the windpipe or bronchial tubes -than common air, while they seem imbued with a richness of vitality far -beyond our diluted oxygen. - -“Beyond the feeling of warmth, vigour, and increased vitality, softened -by a happy consciousness of repose, there was no effect until after -finishing the sixth pipe. My spirits then became joyously excited with -a constant disposition to laugh; brilliant colours floated before my -eyes, but in a confused and cloudy way, sometimes converging into -spots like the eyes in a peacock’s tail, but oftenest melting into and -through each other, like the hues of changeable silk. Had the physical -excitement been greater, they would have taken form and substance, but -after smoking _nine_ pipes I desisted, through fear of subjecting myself -to some unpleasant after-effects. Our Chinese host informed me that he -was obliged to take twenty pipes in order to elevate his mind to the -pitch of perfect happiness. I went home feeling rather giddy, and became -so drowsy, with slight qualms at the stomach, that I went to bed at an -early hour—after a deep and refreshing sleep, I arose at sunrise, feeling -stronger and brighter than I had done for weeks past.” - -[Illustration: CHINAMAN SMOKING OPIUM] - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE OPIUM HABIT. - - -It is now proper that we should ask the question “Is opium the very -dreadful thing it is made out to be?” My answer is, yes and no. Anything -immoderately indulged in is bad for one. Over-eating, excess in smoking -and drinking, are all bad. There is such a thing as too much of even -a good thing. I am prepared to admit that excess in opium is worse -than most things; but as a choice between opium and drink, I consider -drunkenness to be the greater evil. It may be that it is more common, -and therefore responsible for more distress in the world than opium; but -opium does not, and can never, degrade as drink does, and a man does not -make a beast of himself with opium. It does not make a nuisance of a -man; it does not lead to violence and to murder as drink does. I do not -ask reformers to subscribe to this view. I express it as my own opinion, -founded as it is upon close acquaintance with numerous opium consumers, -and many drunkards. - -What is it that reformers have to urge against opium? They will not admit -that opium in moderation does no great harm; they will not agree that the -degree of toleration varies in people. Let us take their contentions -_seriatim_, and see how they will stand against logical and informed -discussion: - -They say: (1) That opium in any degree induces physical degeneration. - -I say, I have met men of wretched physique who are opium consumers, and -men of wretched physique who are not opium consumers. Also, I have met -giants in strength who are not opium consumers, and giants in strength -who are confirmed opium consumers. I will also say this, that among the -hard-working class of Indians and Burmans, such as coolies and porters, -the proportion of consumers to non-consumers is about equal, but I have -been able to observe no inferiority in capacity in the consumers, and -very often have found them superior. Those who wish to learn what the -powers of bodily endurance of an opium consumer may be are recommended to -read that very readable book “_An Australian in China_.” - -(2) That the consumer is mentally inferior to his non-consuming brother. - -This I qualify. It depends on the degree of indulgence, and unless this -is considered, it is not possible to argue. It is a proved fact that -the effect of opium is to quicken the perceptions, and stimulate the -imagination. Too often this is taken to be evanescent; and it is assumed -that the intellect weakens, and that, eventually, it is enfeebled beyond -chance of recovery. But if opium were not taken; in such a case, would -not advancing years bring about a like condition? Charles Lamb, who -drank more than was good for him, and Coleridge, who was an opium-eater, -complained that the effect of their particular “poisons” was to deprive -them of their capacity for singing when they awoke in the morning! Lamb -complained of this when he was forty-five, and Coleridge at the age of -sixty-three. Does anyone imagine they would have been able to “revive the -vivacities of thirty-five” if they had been always temperate men? - -There is no doubt that, taken in large quantities, opium induces a -sluggishness, a lethargy, a stupor; but does not an unusually heavy meal -induce a torpor which is incompatible with any sort of intellectual -labour? I hold only with moderation. - -(3) That indulgence in opium weakens the character and morals. - -This applies with equal force to immoderation in most things. It does -not hold good of opium taken in moderation. To affirm this is a clear -indication of ignorance of the subject. Why, in the name of all that is -extraordinary, should a moderate dose of opium make a man a thief, or -a criminal, or a moral imbecile? Indians and Burmans, whose religion -forbids all manner of intoxicants, condemn their opium-eating brothers -to a sort of social ostracism, and when asked for a reason, say, “It is -against our religious tenets; and it is very bad in every way.” Such -uninformed statements are excusable in the unenlightened, but what of -those who ought to know, and who pride themselves upon their education -and reasoning faculties? They are as clamorous against opium and other -things in a more censurable ignorance of facts. Some who will not clear -their minds of cant, declaim against a glass of wine with all the fervour -and denunciation of fanatics, without rhyme, reason, or apprehension of -what they are talking about. In their more fluent and exuberant way, -when pressed for a reason, they tell us in effect that indulgence in -opium is “Against our religious tenets, and it is very bad in every -way.” It is time reformers recognised that opium is not such a dreadful -thing after all, and confined their attention, and devoted some of their -ample leisure, to winning back those who have gone over the limit of -moderation, instead of anathematizing them. - -It is a pity that reformers do not pursue their propaganda along -reasonable and obvious lines, because they would have more supporters -and helpers if they did. To publish fulminatory pamphlets against the -opium evil, without having any experience of it at first hand beyond an -occasional hurried visit to an opium den, is worse than futile; and they -cannot hope to convince those who are really in a position, and qualified -to help them in their efforts. This is due to a profound ignorance of -facts, and a lot of people in India are responsible for the dissemination -of a lot of ill-digested nonsense. An enthusiast visits an opium den and -finds half a dozen Chinamen sprawled around, with as many opium pipes. -He does not know that these men have come in from a ten-hour day’s work. -He throws up his hands in pious consternation, and writes home about the -dreadful place he has visited, and of the horrors of intoxication he -witnessed there. The vividness of his description is modified only by the -amount of rhetoric at his command, and no one who has come into contact -with this sort of person will deny that he always has a vast store! - -I once met a missionary, and in the course of conversation, we happened -upon the opium evil. He was eloquent, his views on the subject were -decided. In fact he was so decided in his views that I found it -impossible to convince him that what he described as the effects of opium -were really those symptomatic of an overdose of _bhang_. And yet, I have -little doubt that this person must have written home lurid accounts of -the opium evil, and the ruin and havoc it was causing. What reformers -ought to do is to cease memorializing Government to totally prohibit the -traffic, and try to help them more by taking an active part in checking -immoderation. Moderate indulgence in opium is less harmful in every way -than the habit of passing public resolutions and submitting memorials. - -By the foregoing, I do not wish it to be surmised that I hold a brief -for the opium habit, or that I consider it a desirable thing. To be -a slave in any degree to anything is bad; the tobacco habit is bad; -the over-eating habit is bad. But opium comes in for too much of the -attention of religious propagandists, and the Government is taxed with -the charge of reaping revenue at the expense of the bodies and souls -of the people. This is a view it is the duty of anyone who knows the -subject intimately to correct. The Royal Commission on Opium in India, -which sat under the chairmanship of Lord Brassey, some thirty years ago, -collected a mass of evidence for and against opium which is unrivalled -in its extent and value. The conclusion come to by a majority of the -Commissioners was that opium in moderation did no great harm; and to -ensure moderation, they recommended a policy of close control. In -deference to popular opinion, and the religious scruples of the bulk of -Indians, they thought it desirable that the opium habit should eventually -be suppressed, and trusted that close control would, by attrition, bring -about this result. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -MORPHIA. - - -Morphia, which is the active principle of opium, is interesting in its -being the first “alkaloid” to be discovered. Its basic nature was first -noticed by Serturner in 1816. - -As a medicine, principally as an anodyne, morphia is to pharmacy what -chloroform is to surgery, and, as a “boon and blessing” to man in that -character, it is second to none. But like all good things in this world, -it has become the object of the grossest abuse at the hand of man; and -its devotees, in an euphonic sense, number hundreds of thousands. - -Morphia is a narcotic; that is, it “has the power to produce lethargy or -stupor which may pass into a state of profound coma or unconsciousness, -along with complete paralysis, terminating in death.” The degree of -insensibility depends upon the strength of the dose; one-sixth of a -grain for an adult man, and one-tenth of a grain for an adult woman, -being the largest safe dose given hypodermically. Two or three grains -given by the stomach is dangerous. But, as with opium, the dose varies -with idiosyncrasy, and some can tolerate larger doses than others. -With habituation, some persons can take with impunity an amount of -morphia which would prove fatal to five or six healthy, full-grown -men. To have its full effect as an hypnotic or anodyne—and its power -as the one depends upon its potency as the other—morphia must be given -hypodermically. - -The possession of morphia by people other than medical men and chemists -is prohibited by law; and the rules governing its sale by chemists are -rigid and exact. They must account for every grain sold, and all entries -in their sales registers must be supported by prescriptions signed by -qualified medical men. Yet morphia injecting is more prevalent in cities -than the public is aware of; and it does not require a very penetrating -mind to discover that the morphia used by its unfortunate victims -comes from illicit sources—from the smuggler. There are, of course, -unscrupulous physicians, dentists, and quacks, who pander to the cravings -of some of their “patients” by administering regular injections; but we -are dealing here with the type of persons who do not call in doctors, -accommodating or otherwise. The ones I write about are catered for by an -organization which, in spite of the greatest efforts, has been found to -be unrepressible. - -[Illustration: GROUP OF MORPHIA-INJECTORS] - -How do these people get their supplies? Let us go into a morphia den -unofficially, and take a glance at it in all its sordidity. We draw -aside a filthy sheet of cloth which does service as a curtain, and -enter a room about twenty feet square. It is dim almost to darkness; -but at the farther end, opposite the entrance door, we notice a wooden -partition which has a locked door in it, and near it a hole not unlike -the window of a box or ticket office. Through this hole a light is -seen, so we presume that there is someone behind the locked door in the -partitioned-off portion of the room. Looking round us, we see a row of -human figures, clad in the foulest rags, lying along the two sides of -the room, near the walls. Some are apparently asleep; actually, they are -drugged, overcome by the last injection of morphia. Others are about to -make themselves comfortable for a sleep, having just had an injection; -while some, too poor to afford the cost of another dose, are groaning and -whimpering with the combined agonies of some painful disease, and the -wearing off of the effects of the last injection. These accost everybody -that enters the den for the price of “just one little injection.” -They appeal to those who have endured the same pangs with which these -unfortunates are wracked. The appeal is to a real, live sympathy; and if -it can be spared, the required money is handed over. - -One of these beings has not appealed in vain to a fellow votary who has -just entered the den in company with two companions, and the four make -their way to the hole in the partition, and in exchange for the coppers -handed in, a skinny hand passes out four little paper packets, each one -containing a dose of morphia powder. Let us peep through the hole, and -look at the owner of the skinny hand before following the four to the -place to which they have retired. It is a Chinaman, characteristically -lean, sitting at a rough table on which is a cigar box filled with paper -packets similar to those we saw being handed to the late purchasers. The -red and green ones contain morphia, the white cocaine (for he caters -for both classes, the injecters of morphia, and eaters of cocaine). -Looking up at the hole, he sees us, and thinking we are either excise -or police officers, he hastily gathers up his wares, and rushing to the -sanitary arrangement in the corner of his cubicle, empties them into -the receptacle, and pulling the chain, flushes away the incriminating -evidences of his occupation. Being assured that they are well on their -way to the sea through the sewer, he turns towards us with a “smile that -is child-like and bland,” and explains that he has “got nothing—all -gone—you can’t do nothing.” We explain that we had no intention of doing -anything, and were merely curious. Recollecting that he had heard no call -from his ever watchful colleague who stands by to give timely warning in -the event of a raiding party coming in sight, he admits that he has been -precipitate; but in no way disconcerted, he sends his colleague off to -some place best known to themselves, for a fresh supply of packets. - -We now return to the four men who provided themselves with morphia two or -three minutes ago. We find them sitting in a ring round another fellow -who we learn is the operator. He possesses a hypodermic syringe. Let -us take and examine it. It is not the sort of thing one would expect to -find in a chemist’s show-case or a medical man’s pocket-case. This is a -weird instrument; the barrel a length of glass tubing; the plunger a bit -of knitting needle, whose plunging head consists of tightly wound rag, -and whose other end is topped with a conglomerate of sealing wax and -sewing thimble. Both joints are lumps of sealing wax, through the lower -of which an inch and a half of hollow needle projects. Handing back this -septic instrument to the operator, who, by the way, tells us that he gets -a copper for every injection he gives, he proceeds to empty the contents -of the packets into a small china egg-cup. Adding a modicum of water, -and stirring the mixture until a clear solution is formed, he takes up -some in the syringe, and one of the expectant waiters draws nearer him. -A search is made by the operator for a clear spot on the body of the -man, where a dirty needle has not already penetrated and caused a foul -sore, and after some search such a spot is found, _on the palm of the -hand_, and here the needle is introduced, and the contents of the syringe -discharged, after which the man operated on limps away to his place, and -lying down, is soon asleep. The next draws near, and having received his -share of the dose with the same needle, unsterilized and unwashed, he in -turn limps off; and so with the others. - -Let us hope that the fell, loathesome, unnameable disease, from which -one at any rate of the four was too apparently suffering, has not been -introduced into the blood of the others by that death-dealing needle! But -it is a hope that we cannot think is justified; the means of propagation -employed are too certain to admit of any hope! - -The foul and fetid atmosphere of the crowded room is almost overpowering, -in spite of the strong tobacco we smoke in our well-lit pipes, but we -will linger a little longer and take a glance at those who are lying -around like so many logs. Look at this one of them. What an object -lesson he is to impetuous youth! Thin to emaciation; his hair fallen off -in tufts; his nose almost eaten away; his body covered with sores and -ulcers. There is nothing to wonder at in this being taking morphia to -ease his pain of mind and body. Since death will not come, let him have -oblivion. It is better so. - -Here we find a woman; she is a slattern if ever there was one. -Clean-limbed, in the sense that she has no sores on visible parts of her -body, she is nevertheless almost as certain a disseminator of disease and -misery as the foul needle. She wakes as we watch her, and in a drowsy -way, smiles; probably in a way she means to be fascinating, but we are -not under the effects of the delusive narcotic, so cannot be expected to -know! Suddenly a look of intelligence comes into her eyes, and realising -who we are, she gets up, and stumbles towards the door, and out on to the -street—on her way to _another_ den in all probability! - -[Illustration: AN INDIAN MORPHINIST] - -Here is another. An old, or rather, an old-looking man, shrivelled and -feeble. He is just awaking from his stupor. We ask him to get up, but he -is unable to do more than humbly indicate the reason for his inability -to do so. A glance, as the sheet which covers him is withdrawn from his -body, sends a thrill of horror through us, and we turn away sickened at -the sight; and the man—is he a man?—draws his cloth over his tattered -body, and tries to woo sleep again. This last sight is enough to send us -headlong into the fresh air and sunlight. If these are the results of -morphia, then God have mercy upon its votaries, for they stand sorely in -need of it! - -Morphia is imported into the country in large quantities by smugglers, -the drug being brought from the British Isles, Japan, and the Continent -by members of the crews of steamers plying from these countries. As many -as 500 ounces of morphia have been seized in one consignment, and, as -it is generally admitted by those who are in position to know that for -every ounce seized, a pound passes through undetected, it only requires a -simple calculation to arrive at the approximate total quantity which is -hawked about unrestricted. - -Morphia, being more portable and concentrated, is more easily concealed -than opium, which is comparatively bulky. Of the aggregate seizures -in any one year, seventy-five per cent. is made up of numerous small -seizures. To seize four or five ounces of the drug in one lot is rather -the exception than the rule; and seizure in larger quantities is a -comparatively rare event. - -But it is comforting, in a way, to know that morphia, by the time it -reaches the consumer, is very often freely adulterated, starch being the -adulterant used; and when it is considered that morphia sold illicitly -fetches from five to six times its price when sold licitly, the increase -in its bulk which results after adulteration represents a handsome -additional profit to the vendor. The big smuggler imports the drug; his -lesser brother buys some from him and adulterates it; the den-owner buys -the mixture from the lesser light and he in turn adds a little more -starch to it; and finally “the man in the cubicle” retails the mixture to -the consumer. - -There is little to be said in defence of the morphia habit. It is bad, -utterly bad, in itself, while it is a fertile disseminator of disease -when injected as it is. Morphia ruins a man, body and soul. As is the -case with opium, pain is a frequent originator of the habit, but its hold -upon the individual is, if anything, stronger than that exerted by opium, -and fatal consequences ensue with great certainty and rapidity. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -COCAINE. - - -In writing about cocaine, we find that interest lies not so much in -itself as in the plant of which it is the alkaloid, the “_erythroxylon -coca_.” - -The coca plant is indigenous to Peru, and from the most ancient times, -Peruvian Indians have chewed the leaves as a habit, as Indians in this -country chew the betel leaf and tobacco. “The local consumption of coca -is immense,” says Dr. Hartwig, “as the Peruvian Indian reckons its -habitual use among the prime necessaries of life, and is never seen -without a leathern pouch filled with a provision of the leaves, and -containing besides a small box of powdered, unslaked lime. At least -three times a day he rests from his work to chew his indispensable coca. -Carefully taking a few leaves out of the bag, and removing their midribs, -he first masticates them in the shape of a small ball, which is called an -acullico; then repeatedly inserting a thin piece of moistened wood like a -tooth-pick into the box of unslaked lime, he introduces the powder which -remains attached to it into the acullico until the latter has acquired -the requisite flavour. The saliva, which is abundantly secreted while -chewing the pungent mixture, is mostly swallowed along with the green -juice of the plant. - -“When the acullico is exhausted, another is immediately prepared, for one -seldom suffices. The corrosive sharpness of the unslaked lime requires -some caution, and an unskilled coca chewer runs the risk of burning -his lips, as, for instance, the celebrated traveller Tschudi, who, by -the advice of his muleteer, while crossing the high mountain-passes of -the Andes, attempted to make an acullico, and instead of strengthening -himself as he expected, merely added excruciating pain to the fatigues of -the journey.” - -The poet Cowley succinctly describes the physical effects of coca in the -following lines: - - “Our Varicocha first this coca sent, - “Endow’d with leaves of wondrous nourishment, - “Whose juice succ’d in, and to the stomach tak’n - “Long hunger and long labour can sustain - “From which our faint and weary bodies find - “More succour, more they clear the drooping mind, - “Than can your _Bacchus_ and your _Ceres_ join’d. - “Three leaves supply for six days’ march afford - “The Quitoita with this provision stor’d - “Can pass the vast and cloudy Andes o’er.” - -“It is a remarkable fact,” Dr. Hartwig tells us, “that the Indians, -who regularly use coca, require but little food, and when the dose is -augmented, are able to undergo the greatest fatigues without tasting -almost anything else.” Professor Pöppig ascribes this astonishing -endurance to a momentary excitement which must necessarily be succeeded -by a corresponding collapse, and therefore considers the use of coca -absolutely hurtful. Tschudi, however, is of opinion that its moderate -consumption, far from being injurious, is, on the contrary, extremely -wholesome, and cites the examples of several Indians who, never allowing -a day to pass without chewing their coca, “attained the truly patriarchal -age of one hundred and thirty years.” - -The effects of excess in coca chewing are given by Hill in his _Travels -in Peru and Mexico_. “The worst that can be said of the coca is its -effects upon the health of such of the Indians as use it in excess. It -then affects the breath, pales the lips and gums, and leaves a black mark -on either side of the mouth. Moreover, after some time, the nerves of the -consumer become affected, and a general langour is said to give plain -evidence of the sad consequences of excess.” - -Another writer gives a more depressing picture of the excessive consumer: -“The confirmed coca chewer, or Coquero, is known at once by his uncertain -step, his sallow complexion, his hollow, lack-lustre black-rimmed eyes, -deeply sunk in the head, his trembling lips, his incoherent speech, and -his stolid apathy. His character is irresolute, suspicious, and false; in -the prime of life he has all the appearances of senility, and in later -years sinks into complete idiocy. Avoiding the society of man, he seeks -the dark forest, or some solitary ruin, and there, for days together, -indulges in his pernicious habit. While under the influence of coca, his -excited fancy riots in the strangest visions, now revelling in pictures -of ideal beauty, and then haunted by dreadful apparitions. Secure from -intrusion he crouches in an obscure corner, his eyes immovably fixed -upon one spot; and the almost automatic motion of the hand raising the -coca to the mouth, and its mechanical chewing, are the only signs of -consciousness which he exhibits. Sometimes a deep groan escapes from -his breast, most likely when the dismal solitude around him inspires -his imagination with some terrific vision, which he is as little able -to banish, as voluntarily to dismiss his dreams of ideal felicity. How -the Coquero finally awakens from his trance, Tschudi was never able to -ascertain, though most likely the complete exhaustion of his supply at -length forces him to return to his miserable hut.” - -The coca plant has from ancient times been the object of religious -veneration by the Peruvian Indians, and although we have no historical -record to tell us when the use of coca was introduced, or who first -discovered its peculiar properties, we learn that when Pizarro destroyed -Athualpa’s Empire, he found that the Incas employed coca in their -religious ceremonies and sacrifices “either for fumigation, or as an -offering to the gods. The priests chewed coca while performing their -rites, and the favour of the invisible powers was only to be obtained by -a present of these highly valued leaves. No work begun without coca could -come to a happy termination, and divine honours were paid to the shrub -itself.” - -“After a period of more than three centuries, Christianity has not yet -been able to eradicate these deeply-rooted superstitious feelings, and -everywhere the traveller still meets with traces of the ancient belief in -its mysterious powers. To the present day the miners of Cerro de Pasco -throw chewed coca against the hard veins of the ore, and affirm that they -can then be more easily worked—a custom transmitted to them from their -forefathers who were fully persuaded that the Coyas, or subterranean -divinities, rendered the mountains impenetrable, unless previously -propitiated by an offering of coca. Even now the Indians put coca into -the mouths of their dead, to ensure them a welcome on their passage to -another world; and whenever they find one of their ancestral mummies, -they never fail to offer it some of the leaves.” - -It is believed that the superstitions regarding coca were looked upon -with great disgust by the Spaniards, and that their efforts to stamp them -out did more to keep alive the enmity borne them by the Indians than -anything else. - -The coca plant was first grown in Ceylon in 1870 when it was introduced -from Kew. It was grown there as a result of a suggestion made by Mr. -Joseph Stevenson who pointed out the commercial importance of the plant -in view of the separation of the alkaloid cocaine by Nieman in 1859; but -owing to the liability of the coca leaves to rapid deterioration after -picking in unfavourable climatic conditions, this branch of commerce -has not developed, and as yet no attempt has been made to extract the -alkaloid in India, in commercial quantities at any rate. - -But no matter what might be said about coca-chewing, there can be no two -opinions about the dire and destructive effects of cocaine the alkaloid, -and the results of indulgence in this drug are truly deplorable. It may -be owing to something else in the coca leaves which ameliorates the full -effect of the alkaloid; in fact it must be so, because I doubt whether -even a confirmed cocaine consumer could find anything to say in its -favour. - -The first notice of cocaine consuming appears to be that of Col. J. -Watson, who wrote in the _New York Tribune_ about cocaine-sniffing. He -writes: “I have visited some of the Negro bar-rooms in Atlanta, and -the proprietors told me that the cocaine-habit which had been acquired -by the Negroes, was simply driving them out of business. When the -cocaine-habit fixes itself on a person, the desire for liquor is gone, -the victim finding entire satisfaction in sniffing cocaine. By sniffing -cocaine up the nostrils it reaches the brain quicker, and the effect is -more lasting than if swallowed or administered by hypodermic injection. -Persons addicted to the habit say they have tried the two latter ways, -and that the effects are not the same, nor do they afford the same degree -of satisfaction and pleasure as when sniffed. Unquestionably the drug -rapidly affects the brain, and the result has been that, in the south, -the asylums for the insane are overflowing with the unfortunate victims. -After a person has habitually used the poison for a certain length of -time, he becomes mentally irresponsible. No man can use it long and -retain his normal mental condition. It is a brain-wrecker of the worst -kind.” - -Cocaine is a highly poisonous narcotic, and when rubbed on the skin, -or injected under it, deadens the surrounding parts, and renders them -insensible to pain. It is therefore much used in minor surgery, and in -ophthalmic and dental operations. As such, it replaces chloroform to some -extent. But, unfortunately, its highly stimulating effects, and its power -to allay hunger, have been taken advantage of by many thousands of people -who have made a habit of taking it, and Col. Watson’s description of the -dire results of cocaine-sniffing apply with equal force to those which -supervene on cocaine-injecting and cocaine-eating, vices that have spread -with alarming rapidity all over the civilized world. - -The cocaine-habit is an unmixed vice. There is no excuse for it; not even -the excuse that the opium and morphia habits have, _viz._, accident; and -the person who takes to it, does so wilfully and deliberately. Cocaine -has a greater power over its votaries than either opium or morphia; the -after distress is keener; and a slave to it is a slave indeed. And the -harm it does, and the certainty with which it eventually kills, is truly -appalling. - -[Illustration: A BURMAN COCAINE EATER] - -Extreme poverty is frequently a cause of the habit. The abject wretch -who becomes possessed of a few coppers, realizing that the amount will -be insufficient for a square meal, buys an innocent looking packet of -cocaine, and mixing it with a small quantity of the lime-paste used -by betel-chewers in their quids, smears the mixture on his gums, and -slowly swallows the saliva. Gone are the cravings for food; a feeling of -pleasant warmth suffuses his wasted body; he feels equal to any exertion. -Images are distorted to immense proportions; the stick he holds becomes a -club of huge dimensions, and he takes great pride in his ability to wield -it so easily; an empty jam-tin lying near assumes the proportions of a -five-gallon milk-can; and he takes great pleasure in showing his agility -in jumping high over the threshold of the door! In all, he considers -himself to be a very fine, powerful, prepossessing fellow indeed—until -the effects wear off, and he once more sets off to beg or steal the price -of another dose of this elevating narcotic. - -I once knew a European who was addicted to this drug—he injected it—and a -more pitiable object it would be difficult to conceive. He was a dentist -by profession, and the last I heard of him was that he had died by his -own hand, a frequent termination of this habit, which produces in its -last stages, a sort of morbid, gloomy, mania or insanity in its victims. -This individual was the victim of all kinds of hallucinations, and under -the influence of the drug, was a fluent, and often convincing, liar. -He invested himself with numerous medical degrees; he went in terror of -imaginary assailants; and he had a fixed idea that his meagre belongings -were the envy of murderous burglars. So much so, that on more than one -occasion he fired off the revolver he carried by day, and placed under -his pillow by night, at imaginary intruders, to the no small risk of -other occupants of the house he lived in. The tales of personal adventure -he related, the accounts he gave of deadly combats with men twice his -puny size, his stories of his property and wealth at home, were the -wonder of all to whom he told them, and who were unable to discover in -him the characteristic effects of the fell drug cocaine. - -We are unfortunately without complete information about cocaine, but we -know enough about it to realize that the habit is spreading with the -rapidity and devastating effects of a conflagration over the world. As -far as India and Burma are concerned, the law is stringent and severe, -and the Dangerous Drugs Bill, which was lately occupying the attention of -the Home Government, goes far on the road to bringing things at home into -line with India and Burma. - -The Germans discovered a method by which cocaine can be manufactured -synthetically; and bogey hunters will discover a deep plot to undermine -the physique and morals of Indians when they are told that the synthetic -manufacture of cocaine is, to all intents and purposes, a state-aided -industry. It is classed as an industry, and as such receives the spirit -used in the preparation of the synthetic drug, duty-free. Ninety per -cent. of the cocaine imported into this country before the war came from -Germany. - -It would probably surprise the Darmstadt firm, which purveyed almost all -the cocaine that came to Burma, if they knew that their drachm-phials, -neatly capsuled, and labelled “Cocaine Hydrochloride,” ought really -sometimes to have been labelled “Antefebrin,” for that indeed is what -a great number that were seized by the authorities contained. In -appearance, cocaine and antefebrin are hard to distinguish from one -another; and for a long time the results of analyses led the authorities -to suppose that the manufacturers were defrauding their eastern -constituents; but the discovery of a complete plant consisting of phials, -labels, capsules, and a large quantity of antefebrin, eventually cleared -the name of the doubtless reputable manufacturers, and fastened the guilt -upon local swindling smugglers. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -HEMP DRUGS. - - -Like the poppy which is cultivated for opium, the hemp plant, _cannabis -sativa_, is grown for _ganja_, _bhang_, and _churrus_, all highly -intoxicating drugs; and for its bast fibre which makes such excellent -rope. - -The history of the plant is interesting, but no more than a very brief -allusion to it is necessary here. The first mention of hemp occurs in -Chinese literature, about the twenty-eighth century, B.C., when the -hemp-seed is mentioned as one of the five or nine kinds of grain. It -is mentioned merely as a “sacred grass” in the _Athavaveda_ about 1400 -B.C. But the narcotic properties of the plant, with which we are chiefly -concerned, do not seem to have been known until the beginning of the -fourteenth century A.D. In a Hindu play written about the sixteenth -century A.D., Siva brings down the _bhang_ plant from the Himalaya, and -gives it to the worshippers of himself. Of more recent evidence, we have -the statement of the Emperor Baber, who tells in his _Memoirs_ (1519 -A.D.) of the number of times he had taken _Maajun_. John Lindsay, in his -_Journal of Captivity in Mysore_ (1781), relates how his soldiers were -made to eat _Majum_; and lastly, De Quincey, in his _Confessions of an -English Opium-Eater_, speaks of _Madjoon_, which he inaccurately states -is a Turkish name for opium. - -The hemp plant belongs to the diœcious order of plants, of which the Hop -is another member. That is to say, the flowers, male and female, are -borne on separate shrubs. The male hemp plants die early, or are removed -by hand, an operation which requires expert knowledge of the two plants; -but the female is tended and looked after until the flowering tops are -developed. These are then collected and dried, and are called _ganja_. -The leaves, stalks and trash are collected, and this is called _bhang_; -while the resin (which is collected by hand, like opium, or sometimes, -made to adhere to the clothes, or special leather garments, or even the -skins of men who walk up and down among the growing plants and is then -scraped off and worked up into a mass by rolling and pressing) is called -_churrus_. This is really the active principle of the hemp. Its presence -in the flowering tops, leaves and stalks giving _ganja_ and _bhang_ -their narcotic properties; and _churrus_ is therefore more potent in its -intoxicating effects than either _ganja_ or _bhang_. - -_Ganja_ is a greenish-brown conglomeration of what looks like half-dried, -tightly pressed grass; _bhang_ is somewhat similar in appearance, but -looser in form; and _churrus_, the resin itself, is a greenish-brown, -moist mass. When it has been kept some time, it becomes hard, friable, -and of a brownish-grey colour. When it assumes this condition and -colour, it is inert. All have a characteristic, faintly pungent, odour, -and but slight taste. It is interesting to note that the word _churrus_ -means a “bag” or “skin.” It is believed that the name was applied to the -drug from the skins or bags in which it used to be imported in olden -times, from Central Asia. - -Indulgence in hemp in India is as common as betel-chewing and tobacco -smoking. It is, in one or other of its forms, either smoked, or eaten. -(The sweetmeat _Majum_, is compounded from _bhang_, honey, sugar, and -spices. Sometimes it is infused in cold water to which butter is added. -The butter in time takes up the active principle of the drug, and is -eaten.) And it is computed that the votaries of hemp, in one or other -of its many forms, number three millions! There is great diversity of -opinion as to whether hemp is gravely harmful to its consumers, or -whether it is merely an undesirable form of indulgence without any evil -permanent effects. The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, which examined the -whole question in detail, was of opinion that it was harmless if indulged -in moderately, but that the gravest results must follow upon intemperance -in its use. As regards its being a fruitful cause of insanity, the -evidence of alienists was taken, and the statistics of all the large -asylums for the insane in India were examined; but “only 7·3 per cent. of -lunatics admitted to asylums were those in which hemp could reasonably -be regarded as having been a factor of importance. Moreover, the form -of insanity produced yields readily to treatment,” and as hemp has not -got the same hold that opium has upon individuals, its discontinuance is -easily effected and immediate restoration of the mental faculties comes -about. - -The moderate use of _ganja_ increases the appetite, and produces a -condition of cheerfulness. In excess, hallucinations, and a sort of -delirium is excited, and it is in this aggravated state that a man may -“run amok.” This is the outstanding evil of the drug: to temporarily -madden a man. But, for the fatal consequences which often ensue from -running amok, people are apt to put the whole blame on the drug. May -it not, however, be that a man whose desire it is to become reckless -purposely resorts to the drug to hearten himself? I think it is very -likely. It is often discovered, after a man has run amok, that he has -for some time been broody or sulky, and suffering under some real or -imagined wrong. That he should get desperate, and take in excess what he -well knows to be is an excitant infinitely more powerful than alcohol, in -order to carry through what he has been longing for some time to do, is -not altogether unreasonable. - -To digress from the subject immediately under discussion; it is common -in discussing crime and its connection with drink, to hear the view -expressed that drink is the cause of crime _primâ facie_; whereas it -often happens that a person intent on revenge cannot bring himself to -do his neighbour a mischief in cold blood and requires a little “Dutch -courage” to tune himself up to the pitch of not caring for consequences. -Too often the crime committed is the result of impetuosity; impetuosity -exacerbated by drink. We never hear of offences against property being -attributed to drunkenness; and yet, from the moral standpoint, the -deliberate commission of theft or robbery is evidential of greater -obliquity than the passionate striking of one’s enemy with whatever comes -to hand at the moment. - -Medical Jurisprudence is crowded with instances in which hemp has been -employed in the commission of crimes. A single instance, which came -within the writer’s personal experience, will however suffice. The Civil -Surgeon of ... had gone out on tour leaving behind his wife and family -of three small boys. The bedroom occupied by Mrs. Blank adjoined that -usually occupied by the doctor, which contained a large, heavy iron -safe in which was Mrs. Blank’s jewellery and a large sum of money. That -night, Mrs. Blank and the children retired to bed at the usual hour; -but upon waking in the morning, she felt unrefreshed and languid. The -children complained of a like feeling. Going into her husband’s room, -Mrs. Blank was shocked to find that the safe had disappeared, one of its -heavy massive handles lay wrenched off upon the floor, and a twisted gun -barrel near by had too apparently been used ineffectually as a lever. An -alarm was raised, and the police called in. Mrs. Blank averred that the -safe was too large and heavy for fewer than six powerful men to carry -down stairs. That she had been drugged there could be no doubt; she had -slept and the children had slept through the night undisturbed, and it -was impossible to conceive how they could otherwise have done so, with -evidences of such noisy activities abundant in the next room. The safe -was never found, and the culprits were never brought to book; but the -discovery of a small patch of cultivated hemp, on some land belonging to -a man servant who was in the Civil Surgeon’s employ at the time of the -burglary, made the case clear, and the servant’s complicity morally, if -not judicially, certain. - - - - -L’ENVOI. - -A PERSIAN ALLEGORY. - - -Three men, one under the effects of alcohol, one under the effects of -opium, and the last under the effects of hemp, arrived one night at the -closed gates of a city. “Let us break down the gates,” said the alcohol -drinker in a fury of rage, “I can do it with my sword!” “Nay,” said the -opium eater, “We can rest here outside in comfort till the morning, when -the gates will be opened, and we may enter.” “Why all this foolish talk?” -whined the one under the effects of hemp. “Let us creep in through the -key-hole. We can make ourselves small enough!” - - - - -APPENDIX. - -AN HISTORICAL NOTE ON OPIUM IN INDIA AND BURMA. - - -It is doubtful whether there is a more valuable drug in the Materia -Medica than opium. Fundamentally, it is the dried juice of the _Papaver -Somniferum_ or white poppy, and although all varieties of poppy are -capable of producing opium, the best comes from the white, and it is this -variety that is systematically cultivated for the world’s supply of opium. - -Opium has been the cause of at least one war, namely, the war between -England and China, and a perusal of the accounts of piracy in the eastern -seas during the sixteenth century affords numerous instances of pitched -battles between traders and pirates whose one object seems to have been -to get possession of valuable cargoes of opium. - -The cultivation of the poppy, as a garden flower at any rate, was -certainly practised as far back as eight hundred years before Christ. -Homer, who lived between 800 B.C. and 700 B.C.[6] mentions it in his -Iliad.[7] Cornelius Nepos also mentions the poppy in Italy; when Tarquin -indicated to the envoy sent to him by his son Sextus Tarquinius, what he -wanted done to the chief inhabitants of Etruria, by striking down all the -tallest poppies in his garden.[8] - -Hippocrates, who lived in the fifth century before Christ, and who is -famous as the founder of Greek medical literature, is the first to -mention poppy juice, and the virtues of the poppy were undoubtedly known -to him; but the physical effects of opium were not definitely mentioned -until the first century before Christ, when Vergil, who lived from 70 -B.C. to 19 B.C., writes of the “Poppy pervaded with Lethean sleep,”[9] -and the “Sleep-giving poppy.”[10] It may be mentioned in passing, that in -Greek mythology Lethe is a river that flows through the regions of the -dead, the waters of which, if drunk by anyone, cause oblivion in regard -to their past existence. - -In the first century after Christ, opium was known as a medicine. -Opium is mentioned by this name by Pliny[11] and by Dioscorides[12] -both of whom lived in this century and its soporific effect was well -known. The poppy was cultivated for opium on the eastern shores of the -Mediterranean, and as the bulk of the trade between Europe and the Indies -passed through these countries, it is certain that this drug, whose value -was known, must have formed a part of the trade, though not, perhaps, to -such a great extent as to attract attention. - -Early in the seventh century after Christ, the religion of Islam was -established in Arabia. By the commandments of this new religion the -use of alcohol was absolutely forbidden, and it is supposed that those -who had been used to alcohol began to use opium and hemp drugs as -substitutes, the fact that these two drugs were not explicitly mentioned -being sufficient sanction, apparently, for their use. It seems certain -that with the spread of Islamism, the use of opium as a stimulant became -more widely diffused. The Arabs were at that time, to all intents and -purposes, masters of the eastern seas. They made long voyages, and -carried on a trade with India and China, and from contemporary literature -it has been definitely established that it was the Arabs that introduced -the poppy, and a knowledge of its properties, into China. It is probable -that opium was used as a stimulant in India also, at this time, but -nothing is definitely known about this, and the history of the production -and use of the drug before the sixteenth century is obscure. There are -many indications, however, that the opium habit came into India in the -eighth century, when the Arabs invaded and conquered Sind; and as the -habit spread with the wanderings of the Arabs, there is much in the -surmise. From this time, up to the end of the eleventh century, the -Mahomedan invaders brought the greater part of India under their rule -or influence, and in Portuguese Chronicles, written in the sixteenth -century, the cultivation of the poppy, the opium habit, the production of -opium, and its export are talked of as established things. Authorities -on India conclude, from the inherent reluctance of the Indian to rapidly -adopt new habits or crops, that the opium habit, and the cultivation of -the poppy for opium, must have taken at least three hundred years or so -to develop over such large areas. - -The Portuguese discovered the Cape route to India in 1488, but it was -not till ten years later that they first crossed the Indian Ocean and -appeared on the west coast of India. They visited all important places -on the coasts, and the great Islands of the Malay Archipelago, and -established themselves in many places. They were not welcome, however, -and were treated as intruders by Oriental traders. Many and fierce were -the encounters between the Moors, and Arabs, and the intruders, who were, -in the greater number, buccaneers and pirates rather than merchants. -Numerous references to opium occur in the literature of those times. -Vespucci mentions “opium, aloes, and many other drugs too numerous to -detail” in a list of the cargo carried by Cabral’s fleet from India to -Lisbon in 1501. In 1511 Giovanni da Empoli mentions the capture of -eight Gujarat ships laden with opium and other merchandize; and in a -letter written in 1513 by Albuquerque to the King of Portugal, he says -“I also send you a man of Aden who knows how to work afyam (opium) and -the manner of collecting it. If Your Highness would believe me, I would -order poppies of the Açores to be sown in all the fields of Portugal and -command afyam to be made, which is the best merchandize that obtains in -these places, and by which much money is made; owing to the thrashing -which we gave Aden no afyam has come to India, and where it once was -worth 12 pardoes a faracolla, there is none to be had at 80. Afyam is -nothing else, Senhor, but the milk of the poppy; from Cayro (_sic_) -whence it used to come, none comes now from Aden; therefore, Senhor, I -would have you order them to be sown and cultivated, because a shipload -would be used yearly in India, and the labourers would gain much also, -and the people of India are lost without it, if they do not eat it; -and set this fact in order, for I do not write to Your Highness an -insignificant thing.” - -Duarte Barbosa[13] (1516) makes several references to opium:— - - Duy (Diu): “They load at this port of the return voyage cotton - ... and opium, both that which comes from Aden, and that which - is made in the kingdom of Cambay, which is not so fine as that - of Aden.” - - Peigu (Burma): “Many Moorish ships assemble at these ports of - Peigu, and bring thither much cloth of Cambay and Palecate, - coloured cottons and silks, which the Indians call patola, - which are worth a great deal here; they also bring opium, - copper ... and a few drugs from Cambay.” - - Ava: “The merchants bring here for sale quicksilver, vermilion, - coral, copper ... opium, scarlet cloth and many other things - from the kingdom of Cambay.” D’Orta described Cambay opium - as yellowish, while the Aden variety was black and hard, and - apparently the better liked kind.[14] - -A Dutchman named Linschoten,[15] in an account of his travels and -voyages, in 1596, gives an exaggerated account of the effects of opium. -He says: “Amfion, so called by the Portingales, is by the Arabians, Mores -(Moors) and Indians called affion, in Latin, opio or opium. It cometh out -of Cairo in Egypt, and out of Aden upon the coast of Arabia, which is the -point of the land entering into the Red Sea, sometimes belonging to the -Portingales, but most part out of Cambaia, and from Deccan; that of Cairo -is whitish and is called Mecerii; that of Aden and the places bordering -upon the mouth of the Red Sea is blackish and hard; that which come from -Cambaia and Deccan is softer and reddish. Amfion is made of sleepeballs, -or poppie, and is the gumme which cometh forth of the same, to ye -which end it is cut up and opened. The Indians use much to eat Amfion, -specially the Malabares, and thither it is brought by those of Cambaia -and other places in great abundance. He that useth to eate it must eate -it daylie, otherwise he dieth and consumeth himself. When they begin to -eate it, and are used unto it, they eate at the least twenty or thirty -grains in weight everie day, sometimes more; but if for four or five days -he chanceth to leave it, he dieth without fail. Likewise he that hath -never eaten it, and will venture at the first to eate as much as those -that daylie use it, it will surely kill him, for I certainly believe it -is a kind of poyson. Such as use it goe alwaise as if they were half -asleepe. They eate much of it because they would not feel any great -labour or unquietness when they are at work, but they use it most for -lecherie ... although such as eate much thereof, are in time altogether -unable to company with a woman and whollie dried up, for it drieth and -whollie cooleth man’s nature that use it, as the Indians themselves do -witness. Wherefore it is not much used by the nobilitie, but only for the -cause aforesaid.” - -Cæsar Fredericke,[16] a Venetian merchant, who travelled extensively in -the East, writes, about 1581, an account of his voyages and some of his -ventures: “And for because that at my departure from Pegu opium was in -great request, I went then to Cambay, to employ a good round summe of -money in opium, and there I bought sixty parcels of opium which cost me -2,000 and 100 duckets, every ducket at 4 shillings 2 pence....” It is -interesting to note that one Ralph Fitch,[17] who travelled in the East -from 1583 to 1591, visited Burma, or Pegu as it was called by voyagers -then, writes that opium from Cambay and Mecca was in great demand. These -references, and a great many more could be given, go to show that by the -sixteenth Century opium was not only well known, but formed an important -item of maritime trade in the East. - -By 1612, the English and Dutch East India Companies had been formed. -The Dutch had established a trading post or factory at Surat, from -which they were afterwards expelled by the English Company, and both -Companies had factories on the Hughli in Bengal. They were not friends, -and often fought, but they combined against the Portuguese and Spaniards -who had appeared on the scene a hundred years before, and who looked -upon all trade from India round the Cape as their monopoly. By the -beginning of the seventeenth century the Portuguese had lost almost all -their possessions in India to the Dutch, and their trade had weakened -and diminished to a point which rendered them almost negligible as -competitors in trade. At this time, several European nations granted -monopolies of trade to the Indies, and the French and the Danes now came -on the scene. It was found impossible, however, to keep out private -individuals who sought to set up trading factories on their own account, -despite monopolies, and swarms of these adventurers came in to trade -in all the valuable articles of merchandize, including opium. They -looked upon force as their only law, and their depredations on the seas -perpetrated against the Indian sailors brought about the speedy decay of -the old native sea-trade. - -Although the English Company established a predominance over the Dutch -in general trade, the latter maintained a lead in the trade in opium. -They exported it to Ceylon, Malacca and the Straits, and it has been -ascertained from contemporary chronicles that the Dutch had attempted to -arrange with Indian Princes to monopolize the export trade of opium to -China. In this, however, they failed, for the Portuguese, who had always -had a monopoly of the export of Malwa opium, still held possession of -their ports on the Cambay Gulf, and so were in a favourable situation for -this trade. - -In those days, as in these, Europeans did not come out to the East for -the sake of their health. They came out with only one object, and -that was to make money. Times have not changed since then. It was not -unnatural therefore that they should look about for as speedy a means -of amassing a fortune as possible, and found opium. Opium was to be got -cheap in exchange for the merchandize with which trading ships came laden -to the East. It was portable and durable, and as it was in great demand -in the countries east of India it constituted an excellent substitute for -money with which were purchased silks, tea, spices and pepper for which -there was a great demand in Europe. It is probable that this demand for -opium stimulated production and increased the output of opium in India, -specially since the entry of the Europeans into the field of commerce -in Eastern waters killed the native sea-trade which used to bring opium -from Turkey. This increase in the output of opium must not be held to -indicate an increase in consumption, as has been made out by some. On -the contrary, it may be inferred that a decrease was brought about by -the introduction of tobacco in the seventeenth century. When tobacco was -unknown and the use of alcohol prohibited to Mahomedans, and looked upon -as disgraceful by Hindoos, it is likely that the opium habit was more -widely prevalent. - -There was little change in the condition of affairs during the greater -part of the eighteenth century, but a gradual increase in the demand from -China about the middle of this century came about from the substitution -of opium smoking for the smoking of tobacco. - -The next stage in the history of the subject begins with the occupation -of Bengal by the British East Indies Company in 1758, but it is first -necessary to briefly outline how matters stood prior to it in connection -with the production and sale of opium under Moghul administration. - -No restrictions were imposed upon the cultivation of the poppy, and -the agriculturist was as free to cultivate it as any other crop. He -could sell his opium to whom he pleased, though generally he sold it -to the money-lender who advanced him the money with which to begin -cultivation ... a practice which obtains to this day in places to which -the co-operative movement has not as yet spread. The opium produced was -made over to the money-lender at a fixed price, but the rate at which -the money-lender disposed of this opium was regulated only by the demand -by European traders, and high prices were obtained. It is very natural -that the native rulers of the day should have wished to participate to -some extent in the huge profits made by these private traders, and a -system was introduced by which a certain part of the profits on opium -was paid into the State treasuries. This was willingly paid, as the -burden was borne by the cultivator. As soon as the system came into -force, the money-lenders formed a ring, and regulated the price paid by -them for opium to cultivators, and took care to fix it at such a rate -that the State demand did not deplete their own purses too much. As time -went on, the confusion of the Moghul Empire, which began and ended, in -the quarrels of Suraj-ud-Dowlah, did away to some extent with these -rings, but custom and tradition are so strong in India, particularly -when supported by men of substance, that when we occupied Bihar, a ring -of wealthy opium dealers were found to be exercising an unauthorised -monopoly in Patna opium which we were in too insecure a position to break. - -This is how matters stood. But for some time before, the general -confusion of the Moghul Empire, and its weakened authority, brought about -a state of turmoil and disorder which obliged European merchants to raise -troops, and convert their factories into garrisoned fortresses. Clive’s -victory over Suraj-ud-Dowlah at Plassey in 1757, however, brought things -to a head, and established the British Company as military masters in -Bengal. Suraj-ud-Dowlah was dethroned, and Mir Jaffer was set up in his -place, the administration being confided to him under the general control -of the Company. But this form of dual government resulted only in the -oppression of the people, and general maladministration. The servants of -the Company had always been allowed the privilege of private trade, and -in this state of affairs they had unique opportunities for trading with -the greatest advantage to themselves. Opium was, of course, exploited to -the full, and when, what was known as the Patna Council, a number of the -Company’s servants, whose business it was to look after the Company’s -interests in Patna, discovered the existence of the opium ring, they were -not long in appropriating its functions, and the very solid financial -advantages it possessed. It is, perhaps, as well to explain that all this -was done for the benefit of the several members of the Patna Council, -and not on behalf of their employer. But the Council found that to avoid -trouble it was necessary to admit the Dutch and French Company’s servants -who were naturally anxious to share in this unauthorized trade, and they -very wisely admitted them, but to a minor share only. - -In 1773, Warren Hastings was made the first Governor-General, and one -of the first reforms he undertook was the suppression of private trade -among the Company’s servants, and of all irregular and unauthorised -monopolies. When the Patna opium monopoly came to be examined, it was -found to involve important considerations, and, after a full discussion -in Council, it was decided not to set it free, but to make it a source of -revenue to the State. It is to be expected that there were many against -this, and various arguments were offered against the measure, but these -were met satisfactorily; the Moghul monopolies had existed for years, -and there was nothing novel in the creation of one properly regulated. -Besides, the cultivators would be better treated, and would be less at -the mercy of private traders and interlopers. The argument that if left -free, more opium would be produced, was answered by Warren Hastings -holding that increase was undesirable in the case of a pernicious luxury. -Strangely enough, a strong line of opposition was taken by Francis, who -was against all monopolies on general principles, and by the Board of -Directors of the British East India Company, on the score of its being a -form of oppression. They suggested leaving the trade free, subject to a -Customs duty. His non-compliance with these instructions was one of the -articles of Warren Hastings’ impeachment later: “That this monopoly was -a despotic interference with the liberty of the ryot, and that he should -have complied with the Directors’ suggestion.” - -The working of this new monopoly did not differ in essentials from the -old form. The opium was collected from the cultivators by a contractor, -but instead of its being handed over to the Patna Council, it was taken -to Calcutta, where the bulk of it was sold by auction to the highest -bidder. The balance was divided between the Dutch, French, and the -commercial side of the British East Indies Companies at average auction -prices. - -The revised conditions under which this new State monopoly worked ensured -the best opium coming into the Company’s hands. It also did away with -“middle-men,” and all the profits which would have gone to cultivators -if they had been allowed free trade. It is not unnatural, therefore, -that some one should conceive the idea of securing the profits made -by the sea-traders as well. In 1775, the revenue officers of Patna -estimated that if the Dutch and French were kept out of the trade, 33,000 -chests of Bengal and Bihar opium would be available for export, and -suggested that the Company should export this to China, where it could -be sold at an immense profit. The letter was considered in Council, -but the suggestion was dropped by common consent without discussion. -Warren Hastings, however, suggested an alternative of direct official -agency, to the exclusion of the contractor, but this motion was lost by -a majority, and the matter was closed. But in 1781 a state of affairs -arose in which the Company found itself sadly short of money. We were -at war with the French, Dutch, and Spaniards, at sea, and with Hyder -Ali and the Maharattas on land. In consequence our ports were closed -to foreign trade, the seas were not safe for ships flying the British -flag, and all available merchant ships were employed in carrying grain -and other supplies to Madras. Opium was unsaleable at Calcutta. It was -under such conditions that it was decided to export opium to China, -and, accordingly, the ‘_Nonsuch_’ with 2,000 chests, was sent to the -supercargoes at Canton, and the ‘_Betsey_’ with 1,450 chests to the -Straits of Malacca. A loan of 10 lakhs of rupees was raised on the cargo -of the ‘_Betsey_,’ to be repaid by bills of exchange on the Company from -the Canton supercargoes. Another loan of 10 lakhs was raised from the -public on the cargo of the ‘_Nonsuch_’ on similar terms. The ‘_Betsey_,’ -after disposing of part of her cargo to advantage, was captured by the -French and Dutch. The cargo of the ‘_Nonsuch_’ was disposed of at a -loss after much difficulty on account of the prohibition of the import -of opium by the Chinese, and on account of the “immense quantities” of -opium brought to Macao by Portuguese ships before the arrival of the -‘_Nonsuch_.’ The loss on this venture was 69,973 dollars. - -The Board of Directors, on hearing of this venture, which was undoubtedly -an exception to the course of policy pursued by the East India Company -in regard to the trade, while holding that there was no objection to the -sale of opium in the Straits of Malacca, condemned the action of its -representatives in exporting opium to China, where the import of opium -was prohibited, as being beneath the dignity of the Company. - -No more opium was exported to China, and the working of the monopoly -remained unchanged until it was reformed, and the system of direct -official agency was introduced by Lord Cornwallis. This system has -remained in force up to the present. - -_Malwa Opium._—The first factory established by the British East Indies -Company on the West Coast of India was at Surat in 1613. The Portuguese -and Dutch had already established themselves here, and all of them -participated in the opium trade to some extent. The Dutch were eventually -expelled by the British who, as the Moghul power diminished, and the -Maharattas became the rulers, assumed a commanding political position. -But owing to their having a minor share in the territories along the -coast, the major portion belonging to native princes and the Portuguese, -although they could participate in the trade in Malwa opium, they were -unable to assume a monopoly. - -By the end of the eighteenth century, the State monopoly in Bengal had -been firmly established, and good prices were being got for export opium. -It was with a certain amount of apprehension therefore that they looked -upon the trade in Malwa opium from the West Coast, and in 1803, this -apprehension developing into something stronger, an order was issued -prohibiting the export of Malwa opium from the Bombay ports. In 1805, -the Bombay Government was asked to prohibit the cultivation of the poppy -within the territories, some of which were newly acquired; but this -order was demurred to, and the Directors concurred, holding that the -cultivation was for opium for local consumption only, and not for export, -and therefore unobjectionable. - -At this time smuggling was rife. There were many routes, some very -circuitous, by which the opium could be got to the sea-coast without -trespassing upon the territories of the Company, but after 1818, when -the third Maharatta war resulted in our getting possession of the whole -of the Bombay sea-coast except Sind, how to get to the sea was a problem -which confronted smugglers with increased complexity. But even so, the -authorities were always faced with the danger of smuggled opium competing -with Bengal opium and lowering its price. Treaties were therefore entered -into with some of the States which had most reason to be grateful to us, -by which they undertook to prohibit the export of the opium produced in -their possessions, to check the cultivation of the poppy, and to sell -what opium was produced to the agents of the Company at a certain fixed -price. The arrangement did not differ materially from the system adopted -in Bengal. But there were other States, such as Scindia and Jeypore, -which refused to enter into alliances on these terms, and a time came -when those who had signed treaties began to look upon the conditions they -had agreed to as repressive. Merchants, who had been dispossessed of -their profits by this system, were greatly in its disfavour, and there -was no doubt about the disapproval of these measures by cultivators who -were deprived of all the advantages of a competitive trade. In 1829 it -was therefore decided to abandon this system in lieu of another, which -required that a certain transit duty be paid on all opium passing through -British territory to Bombay for export to China. This transit or pass -duty was fixed at Rs. 175 a chest, but it varied, rising as it did in -1892 to Rs. 600 a chest. This system still exists in regard to Malwa -opium. - -All the details of legislation and regulation which concern this subject -certainly come within the scope of this note, but their sketchy -treatment is made necessary by considerations of space. A relation of -the Chinese aspect would fill a volume, and no attempt is made here to -describe it. But I feel that this note would not be complete without some -reference to Burma. - -That the use of opium was known in Burma long before British rule was -introduced is evident from the records of Fitch and of Cæsar Fredricke, -who visited Burma in the latter half of the sixteenth century. From the -records of the Dutch East India Company also, Burma, it is seen, was -looked upon as a good market for opium. It is very probable, therefore, -that the luxury use of opium was practised by the Burmese people. The -Buddhist religion prohibits the use of all intoxicants, and the edicts, -issued by the State from time to time against their use, and later on, -against opium in particular, appear to have been inspired by the Buddhist -hierarchy. But it does not appear that the import of opium into Burma -was prohibited by any measure of State prior to its annexation by the -British. In the enquiry of 1891, Mr. Norton, Commissioner of Irrawaddy, -wrote that, before the annexation of Pegu in 1852, although capital -punishment was prescribed for Burmans found with opium, yet opium was -plentiful and easy to get at a cheaper rate than when he was writing. -Several respectable Burmese gentlemen who were consulted during 1878 -admitted that opium was freely used always. - -Arakan and Tenasserim were annexed in 1826 after the first Burmese -war and were attached to the Bengal Presidency for the purposes of -administration under the Deputy Governor of Bengal, and it was not until -1862 that they, along with Pegu, were formed into the province of British -Burma under the Chief Commissioner, Sir Arthur Phayre. - -In 1826, the retail sale of opium in Bengal was conducted under the -farming system. By this system certain tracts were farmed out to selected -persons either by tender or by auction. These farmers were obliged to -purchase Excise opium from the Government opium factories at a fixed -price, which included the cost price and duty. This system was extended -to Arakan and Tenasserim. As time went on, this system of opium farms -was found to be bad and was replaced by the issue of free licenses -to respectable persons. As Arakan was in a favourable position for -smuggling, this system of free licenses was introduced there also, but -Tenasserim, which did not afford the same facilities for smuggling, was -allowed to retain the old system. That the system was unsatisfactory, -chiefly on account of its tendency to cheapen opium, is apparent from a -statement made by an old inhabitant of Akyab to Colonel Strover during -the inquiry of 1891 that he had seen Government opium hawked about for -sale in the streets during the early days of British rule. In 1864 Sir -Arthur Phayre strongly condemned this new system, and in 1865 he drew -up a set of rules which were brought into effect in 1866. The spirit -of these rules is observed up to the present day in regard to the limit -placed upon the quantity of opium which may be purchased by a licensee -during a year for sale at his shop. - -How things stood in Upper Burma at this time can be inferred from a -report made to the Government of India by Sir Charles Crosthwaite under -date 20th March, 1888. “On our taking over the country, stringent rules -were enacted and somewhat rigorously enforced against the sale of -opium. Many Chinese were flogged and otherwise punished for engaging in -a traffic which, although it may have been nominally prohibited, was -allowed to go on under the Burmese Government.” From the statement of -an official of the Burmese Government it would appear that the Burmese -Government never openly recognized the opium traffic in Upper Burma; -those persons only were punished who sold opium to Burmans. The Burmese -Government admitted the existence of the traffic by levying customs dues -on all opium imported into Upper Burma. In 1872, the British Political -Agent reported that large quantities of Shan and Yünnan opium were being -imported into Upper Burma and also smuggled. A Mr. Adams, of the American -Baptist Mission, who was at Mandalay from 1874 to 1879, states that -the _pôngyis_ took great pains to suppress the consumption of opium by -Burmans, with the hearty support of King Mindon, who was a great zealot -in religion, much under the influence of the priesthood, and active in -supporting every endeavour to enforce the law of prohibition. But this -law was personal to the Burmans, and not a territorial law. Other races -were under no restrictions in the matter of opium or liquor, and when -our troops took Mandalay in 1885, enormous stores of opium were found -secreted in the houses of Chinese merchants who said that they sold it -regularly to Burmans. It is true that under King Thebaw’s rule most of -King Mindon’s edicts became dead letters, and even _pôngyis_ became -addicted to opium. - -The opium question attracted much interest, both locally and in England. -The Anti-Opium Society took it up and much correspondence took place, -which resulted in the total prohibition of opium to Burmans in Upper -Burma and the rigid restriction of issues to them in Lower Burma. The -reason for this is concisely put by Sir A. Mackenzie, Chief Commissioner -of Burma, in a Minute: “I do not believe that opium in India or China -does any great harm to the majority of those who use it, _i.e._, to -moderate smokers and eaters. But here, in Burma, we are brought face to -face with the fact that the religion of the people specifically denounces -the use of the drug; that their native kings treated its use as a heinous -offence; that these ideas are so deeply rooted in the minds of the -people that every consumer feels himself to be, and is, regarded by his -neighbours as a sinner and a criminal; that the people are by temperament -pleasure-loving and idle and easily led away by vicious indulgences; -that they have little self-restraint and are always prone to rush into -extremes. When a Burman takes to drink or opium he wants to get drunk or -drugged as fast as he can, or as often as he can. All this seems to me to -point to the necessity of special treatment.” - - - - -FOOTNOTES - - -[1] For a full account of the history of opium, see the Appendix at the -end of the book. - -[2] One tola is equivalent to 180 grains. Eighty tolas equal one _seer_. - -[3] Government does not vend opium directly to the people. A selected -“licensee” undertakes this under the supervision of a Government officer, -usually an Excise Inspector. - -[4] _Chandoo_, the Indian name for prepared or clarified opium used in -smoking. The Burmese name for it is _Beinsi_. - -[5] Three tolas is 540 grains, or 1½ oz. - -[6] Mahaffy, “History of Classical Greek Literature,” 1-81. - -[7] - - “Down sank his head, as in a garden sinks - A ripened poppy charg’d with vernal rains; - So sank his head beneath his helmet’s weight.” - -Iliad. (Lord Derby’s translation, VIII.) - -[8] “Huic, nuntio, quia, credo, dubiæ fidei videbatur, nihil voce -responsum est, Rex, velut deliberabundus, in hortum ædium transit, -sequente nuntio filii: ibi inambulans tacitus, sum apapaverum capita -dicitur baculo decussisse.” Livy i., 54. - -[9] “Lethæo perfusa papavera somno.” Georg.: i, 78. - -[10] “Soporiferumque papaver.” Aeneid: iv, 486. - -[11] “Natural History.” - -[12] “Materia Medica.” - -[13] “The Coasts of East Africa and Malabar,” by Duarte Barbosa. -Translated from the Spanish and edited for the Haklvyt Society by the -Hon’ble H. E. J. Stanley in 1866. - -[14] Paper by Dr da Cunha in the transactions of the Medical and Physical -Society of Bombay, 1882. - -[15] “Discourse of voyages unto ye Easte and West Indies.” - -[16] “Haklvyt’s voyages,” Volume IX, Asia, Part II. - -[17] “Haklvyt’s voyages,” Volume X, Asia, Part III. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Drug Smuggling and Taking in India and -Burma, by Roy K. 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