12 RUBBER 



collected rubber sap, and made use thereof as early as, or 

 even earlier than, did the natives of Haiti and Mexico, 

 it supplies me with facts which uphold this theory. 



The Portuguese founded the colony of Brazil early 

 in the sixteenth century, but naturally their first settle- 

 ments were on the coast. About a hundred years 

 later they began to explore the Amazon. The first 

 European pioneer to journey along this wonderful 

 waterway was a Portuguese missionarj^ and it is said 

 that he was the first civilized man to see the natives 

 of Brazil making use of rubber. Be this as it may, it 

 is certain that the natives had long been acquainted 

 with the product when the Portuguese began to colonize 

 the Amazon Valley, for the settlers found that the 

 aborigines of the district were skilled in making not 

 only balls for playthings, but such useful articles as 

 water-tight shoes and bags out of the sap of a tree that 

 flourished in this locality. 



It is not at all likely that the natives of Brazil had 

 received any help from the natives of Haiti or Mexico 

 in the matter of discovering that tree and the peculiar 

 value of its sap. For the aborigines of Southern America 

 are not given to wandering off to foreign lands either 

 on business or pleasure, and even in these days it is 

 only the very enthusiastic traveller or the man whose 

 living depends on the rubber industry who midertakes 

 a journey into the interior of Brazil, where, for the 

 most part, the means of communication are still very 

 primitive. 



So far, I have shown you there is little doubt that the 

 aborigines of Brazil discovered the rubber in their own 

 country ; and I think I have given you sufficient evi- 

 dence for asking you to believe that the discovery was 



