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APPENDIX I. 



Caoutchouc. 



Caoutchouc, or India-rubber, was one of the things which 

 his Excellency Sir A. H. Gordon requested me to inquire into, 

 and determine what trees, shrubs, or climbers yielded it in 

 Fiji : — To ascertain in what manner the Fijians collected the 

 juice, and the nature and habit of the plants which supplied 

 it ; to see if they were abundant and where they were 

 growing ; and if they could be cultivated for their produce as 

 an article of commerce, and how the caoutchouc could be 

 best collected. 



The Fijians name for caoutchouc is Drega which means 

 gum or glue that issues from a tree, fruit, &c, when wounded. 

 The term Drega Kau is generally applied to trees which have 

 a white milky juice. 



The trees, &c, which yield the caoutchouc in Fiji belong to 

 the order apocynacese. Several are climbers, and belong to 

 the genera alyxia and lyonsia. 



From a variety of causes I cannot with certainty give the 

 names of the species (of climbers) in Fiji; but will send them 

 out with specimens or drawings from England. The trees 

 from which the caoutchouc is obtained are tabernaemontana 

 pacifica, and two if not three species of alstonia, viz., 

 alstonia plumosa a. villosa and another species or variety. 

 Seemann, in his Flora Vitiensis, has doubts about the correct 

 names of them, and as I have no other authority here to 

 refer to, the names will have to be sent from England. 



The Tabernaemontana is a medium sized tree, attaining a 

 height of from 30 to 40 feet, with a trunk of about a foot in 

 diameter, and 12 to 20 feet in length. 



The leaves are dark green, smooth, thick or leathery, oval, 

 from 3 to G or 8 inches long, and from 2 to 4 or inches 

 broad, prominently veined underneath. 



The flowers are white, on a two or three times branched 

 panicle at the ends of the branches. The fruit is a berry, about 

 i-inch in diameter, and 1 inch long, yellow, or reddish yellow 

 when ripe. This tree is found all over the group. It most 

 abounds on alluvial soil, situated in low-lying places. When 



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