September i. 1910.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD. 



413 



Para, Manaos and the Amazon. 



By The Editor of "The India Rubber World." 



SIXTH LETTER. 



The Opening of a New Avenue to the Rich Rubber Fields of 

 Bolivia. — The Madeira-Mamore Railway. Now Under Construction. — 

 Camp Life With the Engineers. — Interest in Rubber Planting on the 

 Amazon. — Legislation in Para for the Encouragement of Planting. 



1HAVE already mentioned the great number of workers, engi- 

 neers and others, whom we met going and coming from 

 the headquarters of the Madeira-Mamore railway, but it 

 was not until I got to Manaos that I really appreciated what a 

 great undertaking it was, and how energetically it was handled. 



One of the partners in the contracting firm that was putting 

 the road through resided there, and I got to know him well. 

 His official headquarters were at Manaos. But Iticoatiara, at the 

 mouth of the Madeira river, was the place where supplies were 

 stored, and many of the men housed going and coming from 

 the railroad camps. 



The Madeira, it will be remembered, is the Amazon's greatest 

 tributary. It comes from Bolivia and furnishes about the only 

 outlet for that landlocked republic. From where it enters the 

 Amazon to San Antonio, nearly 500 miles away, it is navigable 

 by ocean steamers. Then come 250 miles of rapids, in which 

 there are nineteen cataracts. When the water is high the big 

 rubber scows, or batelaos, are able to get through by /foating 

 part of the way and making portages around the falls, but 

 shooting the rapids. These portages are furnished with narrow 

 gauge tracks. The batelaos are unloaded, pulled upon a small 

 truck, and dragged up over the hills, and then eased down on 



the other side. The return trip involves 25 portages, and three 

 trips a year are all that is possible. 



The enormous effort required in moving these heavy boats 

 can hardly be imagined. Every season at low water new road- 

 ways must be made by clearing the great boulders out of the 

 river bed, and then laying a corduroy road of green poles, over 

 which the keel of the batelaos can slip. Where it is possible 

 they use tackle block to help in the pulling, but sometimes every- 

 thing must be done by main strength. 



There is a loss of 10 to 15 per cent, of the rubber sent down 

 by the upsetting cf the scows. Not only that but many men 

 are drowned. The batelaos, by the way, are flat bottomed 

 scows 30 feet long and 8 feet wide, and carry about 10 tons of 

 rubber. They are manned by 16 paddlers, or bateleiros, and usu- 

 ally make the journey down in 20 days, while it takes 60 to return. 



LIFE IN A RAILROAD CAMP. 



The headquarters of the construction camp was not at San 

 Antonio, but at Porto Velho, where were assembled from 4,000 

 to 5,000 men. Of these 300 to 400 were Americans. Here were 

 built substantial quarters for the engineers, bunk houses for the 

 men, an up-to-date thoroughly equipped hospital, an ice plant, 

 and large storehouses. The company had also drilled wells for 

 water, and was making every effort to keep the men well. In 

 spite of that there were sometimes nearly 300 men in the hos- 

 pital, and seven to ten doctors and eight male nurses were 



HAL'LIXG A BATELAO AROUND THE FALLS OF GIRAO, MADEIRA RIVER. 



