76 BRITISH HONDURAS. 



The Castilloa rubber-tree is fit to be tapped for caoutchouc, 

 or the elastic gummy substance produced by its milk, when about 

 seven to ten years old. The milk is obtained at present from 

 trees growing wild, by men called rubber-gatherers, who are 

 well acquainted with all the localities inhabited by the Toonu. 

 The proper season for tapping the trees is after the autumn 

 rains, which occur some months after the trees have ripened 

 their fruit, and before they put forth buds for the next season. 

 The flow of milk is most copious during the months of October, 

 November, December, and January. The rubber-gatherers com- 

 mence operations on an untapped tree by reaching with a ladder, 

 or by means of lianes, or tie-ties, the upper portions of its trunk, 

 and scoring the bark the whole length with deep cuts, which 

 extend all round. The cuts are sometimes made so as to form 

 a series of spirals all round the tree ; at other times they are 

 shaped simply like the letter V, with a small piece of hoop-iron, 

 the blade of a cutlass, or the leaf of a palm placed at the lower 

 angle to form a spout to lead the milk into a receptacle below. 

 A number of trees are treated in this manner, and left to bleed 

 for several hours. At the close of the day, the rubber-gatherer 

 collects all the milk, washes it by means of water, and leaves it 

 standing till the next morning. He now procures a quantity of 

 the stem of the moon-plant (Calonictyon speciosum), pounds it 

 into a mass, and throws it into a bucket of water. After this 

 decoction has been strained, it is added to the rubber-milk, in 

 the proportion of one pint to a gallon, or until, after brisk 

 stirring, the whole of the milk is coagulated. The masses of 

 rubber floating on the surface are now strained from the liquid, 

 kneaded into cakes, and placed under heavy weights to get rid 

 of all watery particles. When perfectly drained and dry, the 

 rubber cakes are fit for the market, and exported generally in 

 casks. In Spanish Honduras, and other places in Central 



