186 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS 



of the wood, which he holds over the smoke for a few 

 moments, turning it round and round in order to expose 

 every part of the surface to the action of the smoke. 

 When he considers the first coat to have been smoked 

 sufhciently, he again dips the paddle into the raw milk, 

 obtaining a second coat, which he treats in the same 

 manner. The operation is repeated until a mass of 

 rubber of the size desired is obtained. This is removed 

 from the paddle-shaped instrument by cutting it open 

 with a sharp knife, and in this form it is exported after 

 having been dried gradually by being hung up in the 

 shade, under the branches of trees. 



I have described in detail the process employed by 

 the Brazilian collectors for obtaining and preparing their 

 rubber, because it was the one adopted by us in our 

 experiments. There is a cruder system where the tin 

 cups, or, to give them their name, the tigelinhas, are 

 replaced by a belt of bark, fastened tightly around the 

 tree in an inclined direction. Wherever there are inter- 

 stices in the belt they are filled with clay. The incisions 

 are made above the belt so that the milk is barred in its 

 downward progress, and running along the incline, falls 

 into a calabash or some other receptacle placed to receive 

 it. This system of obtaining the latex, although easier 

 than working with tigelinhas, suffers from certain dis- 

 advantages. A strong shower of rain will wash away the 

 clay after the belts have been prepared, in which case the 

 whole work has to be done over again. The waste is ever 

 so much greater, and the milk in its course along the trunk 

 of the tree and the belt picks up many impurities that 

 detract from the value of the rubber. Moreover, the belts, 

 if not re noved, cut through the bark, stop the circulation 

 of sap, and eventually kill the tree. 



