April 1, 1912.; 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



319 



it a wonderful producer, nor was there any sign of the disease 

 that had killed off so many of the cocoanut trees down in 

 Baracoa, while the cocoa showed no signs of the dreaded "witch- 

 broom." 



It was, however, rubber that we were in search of and we 

 found it. The trees, Castilloas, were very large and thrifty. 

 The leaf suggested the Gnatemalensis and I was pleased when 

 Don Angel remarked that a near relative of his had married the 

 daughter of the president of Guatemala and brought the seed 

 from that country. The latex was thick and rich and flowed 

 even in the middle of the day. There were only 20 or 30 of the 

 big trees, but on the ground beneath were hundreds of young 

 seedlings. In fact here was the nucleus of an exceedingly valu- 



the mountain side took us up one of the steep trails as "far as the 

 horses could go; then we clirhbed. We found the tree, the 

 "Lechugo," but the latex was of no value comrriercially and ex- 

 cept for the exercise and the fine appetites developed by it the 



Largest Castilloa in Cuba, 58 Years Old. 



able Castilloa plantation. We coagulated some of the latex with 

 alcohol and got a clean, strong and mature rubber. It was here 

 that I added a rather unusual bit of rubber information to my 

 store. Don Angel in tapping one of the trees got some of the 

 latex in one of his eyes and was suffering intensely. I suggested 

 warm water and we went back to the house for it. The lady 

 of the house, however, knew a better remedy, namely human 

 milk. This she applied dejfterously and promptly from her own 

 ample store and the pain was at once allayed. 

 The tale of an indigenous rubber tree that could be found up 



Castilloa at Nunez, Showing Seed Pods. 



excursion bore no fruit. On our return we found that the pack 

 horse had arrived and we dined abundantly. 



Another day we went far up the mountain taking a score of 

 young Castilloas with us and set them out with appropriate 

 ceremonies. This trip was more particularly for the purpose of 

 observing the forest growth and the rubber planting was but an 

 incident. 



More and more was I impressed with the beauty of this hidden 

 valley. It was so sheltered that no hurricanes nor even high 

 winds could harm it. Brief showers came every day, the air was 

 balmy, not too warm in the middle of the day and cool at night. 

 Above all was the freedom from mosquitoes. I was also much 

 impressed by the athletic manly mountain negroes. They were 

 of a far better type than those in the towns. After a few days of 

 exploration it was easy to understand why it was that the Span- 

 iards could not conquer Cuba. There were scores of fastnesses 

 where one man would be safe from a regiment. There was food 

 and water in abundance and a climate where one needed only 

 the most primitive of shelters from the rain or the evening dews. 

 During one of the trips I found a curious hard-shelled, jointed 

 worm some ten inches long and about an inch through. I cap- 

 tured it for a curio in spite of the earnest protests of Salvador, 

 my guide. As far as I could make out from his broken Spanish 

 the worm was the dreaded Cocosi (if that is the way to spell it), 

 and those who meddled with it became blind. However, I tied 

 a string around it and carried it as far as the house and should 

 have brought it back to the States, but one of the black pigs 

 bolted it while my back was turned. As for the blindness I have 

 never— but stay— I wonder if that was what ailed my eyes? 



And so we explored the Rio Thor, the Rio Blanco and other 

 rivers, stopping at the few negro homes, fed on tropical fruits, 

 drinking the delicious milk of the green cocoanuts, and growing 

 ever more fascinated with the country. Our dinners each even- 

 ing at the plantation house were abundant, picturesque and 

 eaten with enormous appetites. The freshest of eggs, fish from 

 the rapidly flowing river, fresh pork and chicken. What if there 

 were but two plates? What if my goblet, because of its broken 

 stem, had to be set in a tin can to maintain its equilibrium? True 

 hospitality was there. The dark host and hostess hurried anx- 



