ern Ceara, there are many manisoba trees which, like 
those near Sobral, greatly resemble brava trees (Figure 
2 C) and like them yield a resinous, though much more 
abundant latex. The Assaré and Pereiro trees are hacked 
severely every two to four weeks. After the dried rubber 
is collected any part of the trunk which can be reached 
may be hacked again. Most of the rubber is a dark and 
sticky choro, but some of the cuts yield so much latex 
that globules an inch or more in diameter are frequently 
found. These are pressed out to form small plates about 
5 mm. thick and 80 mm. long and are sold at a higher 
price than choro. These plates resemble the rubber pro- 
duced in central Ceara, west of Canindé. 
West of Canindé rises a low mountain range, the Serra 
do Machado, which is poorly represented on maps. In 
this area there are many trees which yield a small amount 
of latex. Some of the trees could be classified as brava, 
while still others have a latex flow sufficiently large to 
make the use of cups possible. Nearly all of the trees are 
tapped from a point about a meter high to the ground 
(Plate XL, B and Figure 2 E) by slicing away the bark 
on the four to eight saliences of the trunk. A small hole 
is dug in the ground and lined with a thin layer of dry 
dust (called tabatinga, taud, or simply pd), which is care- 
fully prepared by pounding up calcareous clay and siev- 
ing it. A sack of this dust is as much a part of the equip- 
ment of a good rubber gatherer (borracheiro) as the smal] 
tapping hatchet (Plate XX XIX, B). The latex flows 
over the surface of the powder which lines the holes and, 
like raindrops on a dusty road, does not soak in but 
coagulates into a small plate called chapa. 'These trees 
are tapped at infrequent and irregular intervals, the suc- 
cessive tappings merely removing a thin layer of the bark 
on both sides of the original vertical cut, a procedure 
which, although it cuts away the cambium, has much in 
{ 812 | 
