uld
purchase a "tolerably good slave" for 100 beans. We read that: "Their
currency consisted of transparent quills of gold dust, of bits of tin
cut in the form of a T, and of bags of cacao containing a specified
number of grains." "Blessed money," exclaims Peter Martyr, "which
exempts its possessor from avarice, since it cannot be long hoarded, nor
hidden underground!"

_Derivation of Chocolate._

The word was derived from the Mexican _chocolatl_. The Mexicans used to
froth their chocolatl with curious whisks made specially for the purpose
(see page 6). Thomas Gage suggests that _choco, choco, choco_ is a
vocal representation of the sound made by stirring chocolate. The suffix
_atl_ means water. According to Mr. W.J. Gordon, we owe the name of
chocolate to a misprint. He states that Joseph Acosta, who wrote as
early as 1604 of chocolatl, was made by the printer to write
_chocolate_, from which the English eliminated the accent, and the
French the final letter.

[Illustration: NATIVE AMERICAN INDIANS ROASTING AND GRINDING THE BEANS,
AND MIXING THE CHOCOLATE IN A JUG WITH A WHISK. (From Ogilvy's
_America_, 1671)]

_First Cacao in Europe._

The Spanish discoverers of the New World brought home to Spain
quantities of cacao, which the curious tasted. We may conclude that they
drank the preparation cold, as Montezuma did, _hot_ chocolate being a
later invention. The new drink, eagerly sought by some, did not meet
with universal approval, and, as was natural, the most diverse opinions
existed as to the pleasantness and wholesomeness of the beverage when it
was first known. Thus Joseph Acosta (1604) wrote: "The chief use of this
cocoa is in a drincke which they call Chocholate, whereof they make
great account, foolishly and without reason; for it is loathsome to such
as are not acquainted with it, having a skumme or frothe that is very
unpleasant to taste, if they be not well conceited thereof. Yet it is a
drincke very much esteemed among the Indians, whereof they feast noble
men as they passe through their country. The Spaniards, both men and
women, that are accustomed to the country are very greedy of this
chocholate." It is not impossible that the English, with the defeat of
the Armada fresh in memory, were at first contemptuous of this "Spanish"
drink. Certain it is, that when British sea-rovers like Drake and
Frobisher, captured Spanish galleons on the high seas, and on searching
their holds for treasure, fo