280 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[June 



1902. 



hunters, and fishers. The Indians hold feasts, when they 

 paint their faces with the red dye called achate or anutto 

 (Rivina ordlatto). They drink freely the fermented liquor 

 chicba made from the root of the yuca or manioc, and gash 

 their heads to display courage. It is part of their worship 

 to drink, thinking that the happier they are the better the 

 Creator will be pleased. All trading is done by barter, the 

 whites supplying them with many useful articles, from a mir- 

 ror to a Liege gun, which soon becomes useless, being of a 

 cheap character but showy appearance. When bargains are 

 made for parcels of rubber to be brought for a certain arti- 

 cle, they keep the contract faithfully. 



Mr. Clayton says the general word used among the Shipibos, 

 Conibos and Campas for rubber, is sandouga. When ask- 

 ing them for that article, you name the word, motioning 

 that they should bring it from the forest, and at the same 

 lime showing them a gun, shirt, or machete. If you wish 

 them to collect it in your absence, it is customary to give a 

 present of a machete or axe, for instance, and by signs show 

 them that you are going up or down river, as the case may be, 

 and that you will return again in a certain number of days. 

 This latter is done by describing an arc with the arm in a ver- 

 tical position to indicate noon, and with each sweep of the arm 

 close one finger of the other hand, which should be held at the 

 same height, and at the side of the face. Among tribes whose 

 language you may be acquainted with to a slight extent, it is 

 the rule to use the word " to-morrow " which in Campa for in- 

 stance \syau-cha. Suppose I wish to tell a Campa that I am 

 going up river, intend to return in five days, and that I 

 wanted some rubber; I should first show him a present, then 

 say "sandouga" until he seemed to understand, then make 

 motions as if paddling a canoe, and say " yaucha " five times 

 closing a finger with each word. Then point to the spot where 

 you are standing and say " sandouga," then indicate with the 

 fingers how many machetes. For instance, you would give so 

 many for a pile of rubber, such as you think they can get to- 

 gether in the time. 



There are about fifty steamers employed by the merchants of 

 Iquitos in collecting rubber from the various tributaries. The 

 names of the chief rubber merchants at Iquitos are : 



L T. Morey. (French house. ) 



A. Morey. (French.) 



Marius & Levy. (French.) 



Pinto Irmaos. (Brazilian.) 



Wesche & Co. (German.) 



Kahn & Pollock. (French ) 



Hernandez Maque & Co. (Peruvian.) 



Although the climate of Iquitos is humid, it is healthy, the 

 average temperature being 87° F. There are few deaths 

 from fevers and other diseases. 



The principal tree yielding the rubber is the common "Caucho" 

 (Castilloa elastica),^\i\z\\ is found growing profusely in all parts. 

 It is invariably cut down, as it yields milk from the whole of 

 the trunk, but the Hevea is only tapped, as it only yields juice 

 from between the bark and stem. Although entire forests of Cau- 

 cho has been destroyed, the ground is quickly covered again 

 with the trees, from the roots or seeds left in the soil; and in 

 six years are fit to be again felled, so rapid is the growth. The 

 juice of the tree is caught in trenches made in the ground, the 

 coagulation being effected in two days. The best quality of 

 gum is that produced by the Seringas.* which are found growing 

 in isolated spots. Paths, called estradas, are made to the 

 groves, an estrada consisting of 150 trees, each of which pro- 

 duces annually 10 shillings worth of rubber. 



• The trees known in the Amazon region by this name are thofie designated by 

 botanists as the genus Hevea. — The Ediiok. 



All communication is kept up by launches and canoes. The 

 most effective kind of launch is of the Thornycroft type, 

 driven by propellers that work in tunnels, as they exert more 

 power than stern wheelers, and are useful in water of only 2 

 feet. Protection is given to the crew against attacks by Indians. 

 The Campas and Conibos often enter the Pampa de Sacra- 

 mento, attack the savage Cashibos, and make captives of them ; 

 carrying them off to sell to the rubber gatherers, who make 

 them work. In time they become accustomed to civilized peo- 

 ple, who give them food and clothing. Thus they leave bar- 

 barism for civilization, and although it may appear to be a 

 cruel treatment, it seems to be the only way to render them do- 

 cile, and of utility to the settlers. Game abounds, peccaries and 

 deer giving good sport. There are plenty of partridges and ducks, 

 and the monkey is reckoned a favorite dish on the river. 



Mr. Clayton says that European immigration can certainly 

 be established in these regions, but the colonists must be sup- 

 plied with provisions by the government, and brought to them 

 by the launches regularly during the first year. There might 

 also be some arrangement made with the colonists for them to 

 plant a certain number of rubber trees, to repay the govern- 

 ment expense, and the government could recoup itself by a 

 rubber monopoly. The prefect. Colonel Portillo, is anxious to 

 welcome English and American citizens to help to develop 

 these great regions, so rich in every product. Sefior Portillo 

 also advocates the construction of a road from the English col- 

 ony on the Perene, to the Tambo affluent of the Amazon ; to 

 give an outlet for cattle and produce to the Amazonian ports 

 and settlements, along with produce to Europe and the outside 

 commercial world. 



The English colony on the Peren6 was formed by the Eu- 

 ropean company known as the Peruvian Corporation, which ac- 

 quired from the Lima government 1,250,000 acres of land, ex- 

 tending for a distance of 40 miles along the banks of that river 

 for a distance of i2>i miles on both sides of the stream. The 

 and is rich in all products, as well as in gold and other miner- 

 als. Petroleum has been discovered near the area, which also 

 contains carboniferous seams. The climate has proved to be 

 one of the finest and most healthful in the world, on the testi- 

 mony of Mr. A. L. Bicknell, f.r.a.s., and other travelers who 

 have visited the country, and who share the opinion that the 

 true route for exports from the colony should be through the 

 river. Only a road of 40 miles is needed to reach a navigable 

 port on the Tambo; whence a service of steamers to Iquitos 

 will place the colony in direct communication with England 

 and the United States. 



NEW RUBBER COMPANIES IN PERU. 



Richard R. Neill, United States secretary of legation at 

 Lima, Peru, reports to his government the formation of a rub- 

 ber company in that city, with a capital of ^26,000, to operate 

 in the province of Sandia. department of Puno, Peru. This is 

 near the Bolivian boundary, and convenient to Lake Titicaca, 

 whence rubber may be shipped by rail to Mollendo, on the Pa- 

 cific. A reference to this district appeared in The India Rub- 

 ber World April i, 1899 (page 178). Mr. Neill reports that 

 another company will take possession of 50,000 hectares ( = 177 

 square miles) of rubber lands near Marcapata, in the depart- 

 ment of Cuzco and east of the city of that name. It is also 

 reported that an individual enterprise in the neighborhood of 

 Marcapata gives employment to 500 rubber gatherers. " De- 

 nouncing" lands in the public domain costs little, though the 

 measurements of concessions is expensive — say^ 1000 for 30,000 

 hectares ( = 74,130 acres). These enterprises, by the way, are 

 located in a different field from that described in the foregoing 

 paper by Mr. Guillaume. 



