090 



11, 



IRONICAL AU1UCU1-TURIST. 



[March 2, 1805. 



beneficial, some 40,000 of them beiug very largely employed 

 on the Amazon ami its affluents in the collection of India- 

 rubber. The Consul observes :— " Should the demand con- 

 tinue for the article, I see no reason why the yields should 

 not go on increasing, as there are new fields being con- 

 tinually opened. From Peru now comes a class of rubber 

 called 'Caucho,' in slabs or sheets of about four inches 

 thick and two to three feet long. It rauks a little higher in 

 value than the coarse quality, i.e., Sernamby ; and I should 

 estimate that 4O0 to 500 tons of this quality come to market 

 every year." Out of a total export of 9,624 tons of Para 

 rubber in 1882, England took 3,514 tons, the United States 

 6,000 tuns, and France 110 tons. 



EcuAnon.— The following figures, taken from the report 

 of Mi'. Consul Chambers on the trade and commerce of 

 Ecuador through the port of Guayaquil during 1882, show 

 the exports of Indiarubber for a period of six years. These 

 reached 7,059 quintals in 1877; 6,501 quintals iu 18/8; 

 5 794 quintals in 1879 ; 7,995 quintals iu 1880 ; 8,715 quintals 

 ,n 1881; and 9,034 quintals in lSSii. The foregoing figures 

 show a steady increase, ami it is interesting to note that 

 during the two latter years the value of tin- productper 

 quintal was considerably enhanced. The export price in 

 1881 was 160s. per quintal, the value of the 8,715 quintals 

 exported being £69,720. In 1882 the price entered was 

 180s. per quintal, and the quantity exported— 9,034 quintals 

 — was valued at £81,306. 



Guatemala— In Mr. Consul Bennett's report on the 

 trade, commerce, and navigation of Guatemala for the year 

 1883, the export of Indiarubber from San Jose, Champerico 

 and Izabal is stated to have amounted to 3,454 quintals 

 14 lb., valuer! at 224,519 dollars 10 cents, the price entered 

 being 65 cents per lb. The export is within a few pounds 

 of the amount exported in 1S82. The vexed question of 

 tapping the trees or cutting them down is still undecided. 

 Those in favour of cutting down allege that the quantity 

 of rubber extracted by so doing is only equal to what 

 would be collected in five or six tappings, after which the 

 tree would die, and consequently that, the yield being 

 immediate and of equal quantity with what would be given 

 by a series of yearly tappings, and the tree in both cases 

 dying, it is more to the interest of all to cut the tree 

 down at once. This course, however, is forbidden by a 

 Government decree. It is possible that the law may be 

 rescinded, and the practice allowed on condition of two 

 new rubber trees beiug planted for every one cut down. 



Nicaragua.— The following table, showing the quantities 

 and values of exports of Indiarubber from Nicaragua m 

 1881 and 1882, is extracted from a report by Mr. Consul 

 Jessel: — 



From. 



England... 

 United States 

 Germany... 

 France ... 



1881. 



Quantity. 



lb. 



345,634 

 1,167,896 



Value. 



dol. c. 

 155.535 30 

 525,553 20 



1,513,530 6S1,088 50 



1882. 



Quantity. 



Value. 



lb. dol. c. 



2G6-374 119,8C8 30 

 1,148,535 516,840 75 



2,150 

 964 



1,418.023 



967 50 

 433 80 



63S,110 35 



RAW INDIARUBBER: ITS COLLECTION AND 

 PREPARATION. 



The" values in the above table are calculated at 45 dollars 

 per 1011 II,. in Nicaragua. The falling-off of the rubber 

 exportation is here, as in most rubber-producing countries, 

 the result "f wholesale destruction of trees by the gatherers. 

 All the country in the immediate neighbourhood of I he 

 river San .In:,,,' is already nearly cleared of rubber trees, 

 and they have now to be sought for in the depths of the 

 primeval Forests, rendering the task more and more difficult. 

 Sumatra —The exports of Indiarubber from Olehleh 

 (Sumatra) during lc82 reached 1,710 lb English, and 

 according to .Mr. Consul Kennedy's report dated Feb. 9th, 

 1883 " they were chiefly from the north and west coasts, 

 and 'it is evident that the high prices for this article pre- 

 vailing iu Europe have somewhat stimulated the search tor 

 it in Sumatra." Guttapercha (a product, which takes its 

 name from tbis island. Sumatra being known to tin- Malays 

 as 'y u !o Percha') is obtained on the west and east coasts, 

 and in 1883 a more recent report states that it was ex- 

 ported to the total amount of 380 piculs.— Itidtoruil ' 



Guttapercha Jwnal, 



No. I.— Para. 



BY THOMAS T. P. BRUCE WAKRKX, 



A few years ago I was engaged as an electrician in lav- 

 ing a submarine telegraph cable between Pernambuco and 

 Para. After the cable was laid I was stationed at Para 

 for a few weeks, during which time I availed myself of 

 every opportunity for seeing what was to be seen, so long 

 as it did not interfere with my duties or inclination to 

 be idle. It is no use disguising the fact that at midday 

 within a few miles of the equator even an active English- 

 man is likely to seek the' cool retreat of a hammock, in 

 preference to any form of outdoor amusement. Bates, in 

 lii "Vorage on the Amazons," says that the Brazilians 

 have a proverb that only Englishmen and dogs are to be 

 found in the streets in the day, so that, at any rate in 

 the eye of a Brazilian, it is no great sin to shirk one's 

 work- a. little. 



During our stay at Para we formed the acquaintance of 

 many Brazilians, Americaus. and Englishmen, so that at 

 no lime had we any reason for beiug particularly dull or 

 feel imr time hanging heavily on our hands. To Captain 

 Bloem, a gentleman in the service of the Amazon Steam 

 Navigation Company, we were particularly indebted foi- 

 st viral interesting little trips into the forests. Iu these 

 excursions Captain Talisman, a gentleman belonging to the 

 same Company, and formerly of the Brazilian navy, acted 

 as pilot. This same gentleman accompanied Professor 

 Agassiz in his journey through Brazil, and was consequently 

 well able to point out and explain to us the marvels around 

 us. I have frequently thought that the immensity and 

 grandeur of these forests would tempt almost any weak- 

 minded man to go off into poetry. We were bent on 

 stern ir things, amongst them being monkey-shooting, botan- 

 izing, and curiosity-hunting. A strange sensation creeps 

 over one when quietly walking along in these forests; 

 snakes of the most formidable kind maybe lurking about 

 ready to pounce upou one, whilst ants, mosqnitos, an. I 

 other small insects are not very particular, if you interfere 

 with them, of illustrating in a practical way their objec- 

 tion to beiug studied. Theu. too, one perspires so freely 

 thai one's garments become so saturated as to make 

 locomotion uncomfortable. After two or three visits to the 

 forests one appears to get hardened against strange and 

 poetical fancies. 



1 have met with no description of these forests which 

 adequately represents a picture of what they really are. 

 The vegetation is no doubt superlatively wild; the mingled 

 chorus of the birds and monkeys, although in striking 

 harmony with the vegetation, would lead you to believe 

 that you were near the Antipmb s to paradise. The crowded 

 state' of the vegetation keeps the trees pretty much on 

 a par as regards girth ; the wrangling for survival is prob- 

 ably kept under by the richness of the soil. I had no 

 opportunity of seeing Indiarubber trees in their native 

 wildness. These trees an- valuable on an .state, ami the 

 ground is kept cleared for some distance from the butt; 

 this gives them a chance of developing into good-sized 

 trees. I am not aware of any account being published 

 of the amount of rubber produced by these^ trees under 

 different nges; tbis fact, however, is certain, that the 

 owners of these trees will not tap them until they have 



attained a k I size, which will of course depend on the 



facilities given foi their development. An owner has no 

 interest in weakening his plants by drawing too freely at 

 one time. The incisions, instead of being carried around 

 the li'i'. are more frequently made at intervals on the 

 stem, on'' above the other, iu a zigzag fashion. Little 

 cups mane of clay, and dried ill the sun, are cemented 

 to the tree with 'a little soft clay, directly under enrol 

 these incisions, bo that the sap flows freely into them. 

 1 have frequently noticed the exaggeratftl ideas which 

 are evidently current with regard to the collecting of the 

 sap. Only a short time ago I saw an illustration in which 

 the sap is represented as gushing out in a perfect torrent. 

 At different periods of the year the sap has different 

 degrees of iuspissation, flowing more copiously when the 

 elaboration of sap is most active, and becoming gloweras 

 evaporation from the plant and dryness of the season set 

 in. These conditions would indicate the necessity for 



