February i, 1906.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



143 



PI,ANS FOR RUBBER EXI^LOITATION IN PERU. 



TlUv iiiMicr resources of southeastern I'eru. lony: known 

 to tlie outside world only in an indefinite way, now 

 appear likely to be developed on an important scale in 

 the near future. Readers of The India Rthbkr 

 WoHi.n from its earliest issues may recall a number of articles, 

 at one time or another, pointing to the existence of rubber of 

 good qualitj' over practically the whole of Peru east of the 

 ^ndes, but for the most part its e.xploitation was long con- 

 fined to that portion of the country accessible by means of 

 the Amazon. Now considerable quantities are shipped 

 from the port of Iquitos, direct bj' ocean steamers to ICurope, 

 although Iquitos is about 2000 miles from the seaboard. . 



But the region thus provided with means of transportation 

 is exceeded in scope bj' the region Uing westward of Bolivia 

 — a region singularly landlocked — and 

 cut off from the Pacific coast by the 

 miumtain range. Communication with 

 the outside world, so far as the native 

 Indians are concerned, does not exist ; 

 there is even scarcely communication 

 with the national capital, Lima. Under 

 these disadvantages, exploration of the 

 country by outsiders has been \eT\ lim- 

 ited, and that only in search of particu- 

 larly rich resources. It was natural 

 that the hope of finding important min 

 eral resduices should be the first incent- 

 ive to foreigners to visit these remote 

 districts, and the first definite knowl- 

 edge of the extent of the rubber forests 

 of southeastern Peru ma\- be said to 

 have been gained by mining engineers. 

 Likewise it was mining companies, with 

 large capital, which first established 

 relations with the Peruvian government 

 for the development of the region re- 

 ferred to. 



The government, it may be said, has been liberal and 

 farsighted, as a rule, recognizing that as neither the people 

 nor the national treasury had the means for developing the 

 rich nitive resources, it must be made to the interest of 

 foreign cai)italists to devote their energies to the opening of 

 this rj.u )le virgin field. In consequence the resources of 

 the country have 

 been .studied, enter- 

 prises have been es- 

 tablished, and the 

 oldtime difficulties 

 of transportation and 

 communication are 

 being overcome. 

 What risks man will 

 take in the hope of 

 discovering gold, all 

 know. But in these 

 days of high priced 

 rubber, the search one of the inca rubber camps. 



RUBBER TREE (HEVEA). 

 [Two or three tin < u[.s for citching the latex 

 may be seen on the ti link.] 



for tliis very necessary commodity is scarcely less enthusi- 

 astic, and hence, after mining the precious metals of Peru, 

 rubber gathering is likely to prove the most important in- 

 terest. 



.\lready no little pioneer work has been done in connection 

 with rubber in southeastern Peru, by a number of people, 

 for the most part working on a small scale and without 

 cooperation. This era, however, is passing; indeed, some 

 considerable rubber enterprises are under way, the consoli- 

 dation of three of which can now be announced. 



The new company, to be known as The Inca Rubber Tra- 

 ding Co., proposes to take over the assets of the Inca Rubber 

 Co., The Carabaya Rubber and Navigation Co., and the Inca 

 Mining Co., except the mines of the last named company. 

 The Inca Rubber Co. and the Inca Min- 

 ing Co. hold from the Peruvian govern- 

 ment large concessions of lands, in con- 

 sideration of which thej' have built 

 roads extensively in a region which be- 

 fore had scarcely forest trails. They 

 have built a fine road some 270 miles in 

 length, from Tirapata. Peru, over the 

 .■\ndes mountains and down to the navi- 

 gable waters of the great rubber produc- 

 ing territory. This road, which has 

 been under construction for nine years, 

 is a magnificent piece of work, and 

 opens up a country said already to pro- 

 duce an important amount of rubber, 

 most of which now goes over the falls of 

 the Madeira to San .-^ulonio, and then 

 by river steamers to Manaos and Para — 

 a costly, dangerous, and tedious journej-. 

 It should be noted here that the navi- 

 gable rivers above referred to are not 

 navigable to seaboard, but only converge 

 into the badly obstructed Madeira. The 

 purpose of the new Inca company will be to deflect this rub- 

 ber — and such other rubber as ma}' be gathered within their 

 sphere of infiuence — to their own route and lay it down in 



bMOKlNQ RUBBER IN THE SAME CAMP. 



