92 MOZAMBIQUE 



The rubber is found between the bark and the 

 wood of the root, adhering to both, though more 

 firmly to the bark. When the bark is stripped 

 from the wood the rubber is removed with it. 

 The rubber does not exist in the form of latex 

 as in the stem of the plant, but in the solid 

 condition, that is, as rubber already coagulated. 

 For this reason it cannot be tapped, because it 

 would not flow, and can only be extracted by 

 digging up the roots, barking them, and finally 

 separating the rubber from the bark. 



This difference between the secretion of the 

 stem rubber and root rubber has an important 

 bearing on the value to the country of the two 

 classes of forest, the one requiring different 

 methods of management from the other. 



For the purpose of separating the rubber the 

 native first provides himself with a flat stone 

 and a wooden hammer fashioned out of the fork 

 of a tree. With this he lightly taps the roots, 

 loosening the bark. He then pulls the bark 

 off the stick like a glove from a finger, the 

 rubber adhering to the bark. When he has 

 accumulated sufficient bark, about as much as 

 he can hold in his two hands, he proceeds to 

 beat it with the wooden hammer, turning the 

 mass over and watering it from time to time. 

 This pulverizes the bark, and when the whole 



