INDIA-RUBBER OR CAOUTCHOUC. 21 



everyone was engaged in the slave trade, and the experi- 

 ment in consequence failed. Within the last few years 

 India-rubber has, however, become one of the chief exports 

 we possess." 



L. Kirkii. This .species, which is named in honour of 

 Sir John Kirk, who discovered it and sent it to Kew, is the 

 source of the best quality and the largest quantity of rubber 

 obtained on the Zanzibar coast. The development of this 

 trade is due entirely to the energy of Sir John Kirk. 

 Some idea of its progress may be obtained from the fol- 

 lowing extracts from reports made to the Foreign Office in 

 1880 by Vice-Consul Holm wood and Consul O'Neill. The 

 former describes the mode of collecting as follows : " The 

 process consisted in cutting clean slices of bark from the 

 trunk and branches from 3 to 10 inches in length, and 

 from \ to f inch in breadth. The cuttings were made 

 sometimes from one side only, but generally they are 

 scored all over the tree, about half of its' bark being thus 

 removed. The method of making the balls of rubber, 

 which average two inches in diameter, is as follows : A 

 quantity of milk is dabbed upon the fore-arm, and being 

 peeled off forms a nucleus. This is applied to one after 

 another of the fresh cuts, and being turned with a rotary 

 motion, the exuding milk is wound off like silk from a 

 cocoon. The affinity of this liquid for the coagulated 

 rubber is so great that not only is every particle cleanly 

 removed from the cutting, but also a large quantity of 

 semi-coagulated milk is drawn away from beneath the uncut 

 bark, and during the process a break in the thread rarely 

 occurs. By working hard, one person can collect five 

 pounds of rubber per diem, though the average is only half 

 the amount. I was assured, however, that in the interior 

 where the trees run large it is no uncommon thing for one 

 man to collect seven, or even nine, pounds in a day." 



In the districts of Mungao and Kilwa alone the de- 



