PLANTATION RUBBER INDUSTRY OF THE EAST. 455 



observed, as is the case with the willow tree when growing on tlie 

 margin of a rivulet. Most of the others occupied dry situations. 

 Those gapo ditches were Uned with soft rich mud, without doubt 

 possessing great fertility. The exhalations from such places, 

 shrouded by a forest growth of 80 or 100 feet liigh, were sensibly 

 felt, and on nearly every occasion when I visited those localities 



1 experienced slight attacks of fever afterwards. The collectors 

 also, diu-ing the working seasons, are often indisposed froni the 

 same cause. Although the forest was excessively damp, yet 

 tapping was being carried on, as a man was seen mixing up some 

 clay at the side of a gapo. A number of good plants were met 

 with beneath the oldest trees. The seedJings did not usually 

 grow in any place where the ground was covered by more than 



2 or 3 inches of water at flood tide. However, by far the 

 greatest niimber were met with on sites above the reach of the 

 highest tides. I measured a few of the largest.trees, all of which 

 had been tapped for periods varying from five to fifteen years. 

 Those fovmd growing in shallow gapo ditches are preceded by an 

 asterisk. The circiunference of each, one yard from the ground, 

 was as follows : — 



Most trees occurring within the limits of the worked districts 

 are tapped if possessing a diameter of 6 or 8 inches. Regularly 

 tapped trees, as a rule, do not exceed 60 feet in height. 



His account of the method of tapping the tree is similar to 



that of other writers, but in greater detail. He notes that the 



latex is said to flow more freely in the early morning, but does 



not attach much importance to the statement. The actual 



tappmg is described as follows : — 



The cups, as already stated, are of burnt clay, and are some- 

 times round, but more frequently flat or slightly concave on one 

 side, so as to stick easily when with a small portion of clay they 

 are pressed against the trunk of the tree. The contents of 15 cups 

 make one Enghsh imperial pint. Arriving at a tree, the collector 

 takes the axe in his right hand, and, striking in an upward 

 direction as high as he can reach, makes a deep upward sloping 

 cut across the trunlc, which always goes through the bark and 

 penetrates an inch or more into the wood. The cut is an inch in 

 breadth. Frequently a .small portion of bark breaks off from the 

 upper side, and occasionally a thin splinter of wood is also rais<>d. 

 Quickly stooping down he takes a cup, and pasting on a small 

 quantity of clay on the flat side, presses it to the trunk close 

 beneath the cut. By this time the milk, which is of dazzling 



