The discovery of the tobacco plant in America by European voyagers aroused their cupidity no less than their
curiosity. They saw in its use by the Indians a custom which, if engrafted upon the civilization of the Old
World, would prove a source of revenue commensurate with their wildest visions of power and wealth. This
was particularly the case with the Spanish and Portuguese conquerors, whose thirst for gold was gratified by
its discovery. The finding by the Spaniards of gold, silver, and the balmy plant, and by the Portuguese of
valuable and glittering gems, opened up to Spain and Portugal three great sources of wealth and power. But
while the Spaniards were the first discoverers of the plant there seems to be conflicting opinions as to which
nation first began its culture, and whether the plant was cultivated first in the Old World or in the New.
Humboldt says:--
"It was neither from Virginia nor from South America, but from the Mexican province of Yucatan that Europe
received the first tobacco seeds about the year 1559.[20] The Spaniards became acquainted with tobacco in
the West India Islands at the end of the 15th Century, and the cultivation of Tobacco preceded the cultivation
of the potato in Europe more than one hundred and twenty years. When Sir Walter Raleigh brought tobacco
from Virginia to England in 1586, whole fields of it were already cultivated in Portugal.[21] It was also
previously known in France."
[Footnote 20: Mussey in his Essay on Tobacco records "That Cortez sent a specimen of the plant to the king
of Spain in 1519." Yucatan was discovered by Hernandez Cordova in 1517, and in 1519 was first settled.]
[Footnote 21: Spain began its culture in Mexico on the coast of Caracas at the islands of St. Domingo and
Trinidad, and particularly in Louisiana.]
Another author says of its introduction into Europe:--
"The seeds of the tobacco plant were first brought to Europe by Gonzalo Hernandez de Oviedo, who
introduced it into Spain, where it was first cultivated as an ornamental plant, till Monardes[22] extolled it as
possessed of medicinal virtues."[23]
[Footnote 22: Pourchat declares that the Portuguese brought it into Europe from Tobago, an island in the West
Indies; but this is hardly probable, as the island was never under the Portuguese dominion.]
[Footnote 23: Monardes wrote upon it only from the small account he had of it from the Brazilians.]
Murray says of the first cultivation of tobacco and potatoes in the Old World:--
"Amidst the numerous remarkable productions ushered into the Old Continent from the New World, there are
two which stand pre-eminently conspicuous from their general adoption. Unlike in their nature, both have
been received as extensive blessings--the one by its nutritive powers tends to support, the other by its narcotic
virtues to soothe and comfort the human frame--the potato and tobacco; but very different was the favor with
which these plants were viewed. The one long rejected, by the slow operation of time, and, perhaps, of
necessity, was at length cherished, and has become the support of millions, but nearly one hundred and twenty
years passed away before even a trial of its merits was attempted; whereas, the tobacco from Yucatan, in less
than seventy years after the discovery, appears to have been extensively cultivated in Portugal, and is,
perhaps, the most generally adopted superfluous vegetable product known; for sugar and opium are not in
such common use. The potato by the starch satisfies the hunger; the tobacco by its morphia calms its
turbulence of the mind. The former becomes a necessity required, the latter a gratification sought for."
