September r, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



179 



these valuable ti'ees should have been clesti'oyed by them; 

 In proof of this, I may menticu that there comes into 

 the market an iuferior quality of rubber extracted from 

 the roots of this tree. When the natives see that no 

 more juice can be drawn from the stem, and believe the 

 tree to be dead, it is their custom to pull up the roots, 

 and by pounding and boiling to extract the last trace of 

 rubber from them. As far as I have been able to dis- 

 cover, the india -rubber exported from the northern por- 

 tion of this province is drawn from only one species of 

 plant of the genus Landolxjhia, whereas I believe that a 

 very Httle research will show that two, if not three, species 

 exist in the same locality. Five years ogo I was employed 

 (ipon a mission by Su' John Kirk, on the continent of 

 Zanzibar, one of the objects of which was the collection 

 of specimens of this plant from which the rubber of Zan- 

 zibar conmierce was drawn. I was then so fortunate as 

 to light upon two new species of this plant, called by 

 the nativts Mbuugu and Mtolia. These were sent to the 

 Koyal Gardens at Kew, but I do not know imder what 

 names they have been classified. One of these, the Mbungu, 

 is to be found upon the mainland of Mozambique. I have 

 ^ met with this species upon several parts of the coast, 

 but nowhere do the natives appear to be aware of its 

 value. Growing upon more humid soil than the species 

 from which the rubber of Mazambique is extracted, it 

 yields a more watery juice, which the native has not yet 

 discovered a method of cougtaHng. Asking them if they 

 never attempted to collect it, they have replied, "It is 

 impossible, it is too watery, we cau only use it for mak- 

 ing bird traps." Smeared over and about the traps it 

 adlieres to the feathers of the bij'ds, and retarding their 

 flight makes them easy captives. There is also another 

 species upon the coast land of Mozambique, called by the 

 natives " Eava, " utilized for the extraction of rubber, 

 and bearing a Hke watery juice. The milk of both these 

 may be congealed by the application of the juice of the 

 lime, as is done, I believe, in the collection of a smiilar 

 species of rubber in Madagascar. The market value of 

 the rubber drawn from these plants jielding a watery 

 juice wiU I think, always be less than that which is 

 wound oif by baud ; for in congealing it cames with it 

 a certaui amount of water, and it loses weight for some 

 months after collection. But this collection is easier, and 

 in the untouched forests that exist of these distinct species 

 of the rubber plant, I think I may venture to say, there 

 lies an additional source of wealth to the province. 



There is a communication by our Political Resid- 

 ent iu Persia, and here are some papers having refer- 

 ence to the Pearl Fishery in the Persian Gulf which 

 have a bearing perhaps on the kindred industry in 

 Ceylon :— 



The Ai/cnt at Linrjah to Lieutenant-Col onel Rois. 



November 1st, 1S82. 

 I beg to report that on the 23rd October small fishiug- 

 boats went to sea to fish in a western direction fr,)ni the 

 place where the native craft lie at anchor at L'.ngah, in 5 

 fathoms water, and being about J of a mile from the shore. 

 Tlie boats began to fish, when the fishing-line got entangled 

 at something under the sea. The boatmen dived to get the 

 thing out. ^Vhen they reached the sea-bottom they found 

 it covered with shells ( 'Ziunee" and " Mabar"*). They 

 then commenced to dive for the shells. Up to the presen 

 some twenty boats, of large and small size, have been engaged 

 daily in fishing at the pearl bank. They have now taken out 

 some 50 niaunds of shells, at lb. each maiind. They prin- 

 cipally take out the zinnee shell, as the mabar shell is small 

 in quantity. Daily they get pearls to the value ofabi.ut200 

 krans. They sell tbezinee shell at 2^kians per maund of 9 

 lb. Owing to cold weather, they cannot dive for the shells 

 more than four hours every day. 



— s 



»"Zinni" is a mussel-shell larger than " mahar, " aup ii 

 ovally elongated ; its inside is lined with a thick cname 

 of a pearly lustre, for which it is in great demand for 

 vai-ious oranamental purposes. It yields smaller and lighter 

 pearls of inferior quality, which are liable to deteriorate 

 by change of colour. 



" '• Mahor " is description of pearl-shell much smaller than 

 '•zinni," and in more or less round; the enamel is not so 

 thick, and is a more reddish tint than that of "zinni," 

 but it yields pearls of large size and best quality.— A. K, H. 



A second bank of pearl shells has also been discovered to 

 the east of the place of Lingah shipping, extending to Kong. 

 This bank possesses more mahar shells, and tlie people dive 

 for tlicm at this bank. I beg to send by post some speci- 

 mens of .shells, viz., two zinnee shells, and two mahar shells 

 from Kong. True purport, (Sigued) A. K. Hakeem. 



No. 10. 



{3Ir. Thomson toEarl Granville. — deceived F!chruary2nd,lS^Z.) 



Tehran, December 11th, 1S82. 



My Lord, — 'Withreference to my despatch of the27th ultimo, 

 I have the honoiu- to forward herewith copy of a further 

 report which has been addressed to the political resident iu 

 the Persian Gulf, by the residency agent at Lingah, announc- 

 ing thediscoveryof another pearl bank to the west of the 

 ports of t'harak and Tavaneh. I have, &c. (.Signed) 



KONALD F. ThOHSOX. 



Tlie Acjent at Lingah to Lieutenant-Colonel Ross. 



November 16th 1882. 



I beg to report, for your information, that on the 11th in. 

 stantl received information that to the west of the Ports of 

 Charak and Tavaneh, at a place called Jlowiah, where the 

 people of Charak and Tavaneh always iish the " matool fish," 

 a pearl bank was discovered, during September and October 

 1S^2. The divers came to know about it at the close of the 

 diving season. About 40 •• baggarhs" belonging to the pec. 

 pie of the Islands of Kais and bindrabee, and Shaikh .Shaah, 

 went to the above spot, and dived there. In a short time 

 they got pearls \-aluing about 15,000 krans. As the cold 

 increased, they closed their operations. They dive there in 

 depths varying from 2 to 5 fathoms. The pearl shells are 

 prmcipally the •' Arabee JIahar" shells. True purport, 

 (Signed) A. K, Hakeem. 



THE "CORNER" IN RUBBER. 



The annual product of crude rubber amounts to many 

 millions of dollars, and in its manufacture iu this couu. 

 try alone from §30,000,000 to §40,000,000 are invested 

 Yet withm three months, by shrewd and audacioua 

 and skillful ruauipulatious, a single individual has 

 'cornered this commodity, forced up tiie price from 

 Jo cents to Sl-20 per pound, and kept it atthelatt.r 

 point for s.veral months, notwilhstaudiug that the 

 nominal price of crude rubber is from 60 to 65 cents 

 a pound. The man who did all this was one J C 

 GonQalves Viauna, barao de Gondoriz. He has before 

 shown hia ability as a remarkably bold and success- 

 ful speculator. Once a promising clerk in the rubber 

 exporting house of Victor Rodiigues d'OUveira of 

 Pani, Brazil, he was in lb77 admitted to partnership 

 and soon became the controlling spirit of the (iri'ii 

 His tirst great achievement was executed in 1879 wliea 

 by skilful scheming he forced the price of rubber up 

 from 40 cents to 81 per pound, and made for him- 

 self a fortune of several hundred thousand dollars. 

 Iu 1S81 he attempted a similar experiment, but this 

 time met with less success. Treacherous contracts 

 made by his juniur partner with New York merchants 

 involved him in great difficulties, and long negoti- 

 ations, after he saw that he must fall, rceulted in his 

 paying SJ2,000 in cash to two of the manufacturers 

 whom he had treated most shabbily. Failing in this 

 attempt, he ne-xt, in July, lSs2, bent his^euer-iea 

 to organize a gigantic syndicate to control the rubber 

 market of Ihe world. At that time the ruling price 

 of Pa' a rubber was 90 to 95 cents per pound, to which 

 price It had beeu elevated by purely natural causes 

 Backed with heavy capital, he set at work buying 

 the new crop as fast as it arrived at ihe exportiuS 

 marketJ of Brazil. For mouths he seemed to be com- 

 plelcly successful. The price of rubber went up, up 

 up. JManufacturers were as'ouished at the audacity 

 ot one mau attempting to monopolize the market, «nd 



