( 211 )• 



" The existence of the india-rubber in Upper Burma does 

 "not appear to have been known, or at an)' rate did not attract 

 " attention until Somewhat recently, when three Europeans, Messrs. 

 " Miller, Marshall, and Henri, who were employed at the jade-stone 

 " mines, were forced to look and search about in the forests for a 

 " substance that would effectually repair a mining apparatus that 

 " they used in working for jade- stone. They found india-rubber, 

 " and repaired the apparatus. The existence and value of the 

 "juice was then brought to the notice of the King, and Mr. Henri 

 "is now employed in tapping the trees and preparing the juice. 

 " Some 70,000 viss of india-rubber was brought from Mogounglast 

 "year. I myself saw thirty or forty cart-loads of it entering the 

 " palace one day. Upper Burma could produce 200 or 300 tons 

 " of this useful substance per annum." 



353. Mr. Brown, the Collector of Customs, kindly informs 

 me that caoutchouc was first exported from Bangoon in August 

 1873, as the produce of Upper Burma. The exports have been 

 as follows : — 



Cwte. 



1873-74 ... ... ... ... ... 737f 



1874-75 ... ... ... ... ... 2,053 



Nine months in 1875-76 ... ... ... 972 



354. The culture of the Ficus elastica in British Burma may be 

 said to have commenced from June 1874, the date of my return to 

 Bangoon. Whether the climate is favourable to the undertaking 

 still remains to be proved ; for, although our results hitherto have 

 been sufficiently encouraging to hope for success, yet at this early 

 stage of the experiment, it would be unwise to predict what change 

 the future may or may not bring about: for my own part, I am inclined 

 to take a sanguine view of things. From a climatic point of 

 view, it is true, the natural home of the Ficus elastica is not identical 

 with that of this province, but the extremes of heat and cold in 

 the two countries do not appear sufficiently marked to affect the 

 question ; while the general habit of the tree leads me to suppose 

 that it will accommodate itself to a far wider zone than that to 

 which it is geographically limited. The disadvantages under 

 which it continues to grow at Prome, speaks for the hardiness of 

 the tree. There it is growing in the centre of a densely-popu- 

 lated town, with an atmosphere and soil antipodal to its natural 

 requirements; while the pernicious practice Buddhists have of 

 gilding the leaves in sacred adoration for the tree, cannot be 

 otherwise than ruinous to plant life, considering that these 

 organs perform the same functions in vegetable life that the 

 lungs and stomach do in animal. In the Commissariat gardens at 



