WE VISIT A SERINGAL 



19 



waters of the Amazon rise very high at times, causii^ 

 great floods. 



The seringal we have come to visit is typical of the 

 many widely scattered villages which the rubber in- 

 dustry has called into existence in the Brazilian forests 

 of the Amazon — typical in its isolation, and as regards 

 the style of its buildings, the kind of people who make 

 up the population, and the everyday life of the little 

 community, who are cut off from the rest of the world. 

 The outstanding buildings are the manager's house, 

 which boasts a tiled roof, his office and store. These 

 are to all intents and purposes " government " quar- 

 ters ; for, although the manager represents a private 

 individual, he rules the community who work for his 

 master with much the same sort of authority he might 

 be expected to exercise if he held office under the 

 Republic . Round about his quarters are some thatched 

 shanties, which provide accommodation for part of the 

 community. But some of the labourers have to go 

 their daily round from tree to tree in far distant parts 

 of the forest ; where their work is, there must they 

 make their home in a solitary hut. The merriest day 

 of the week for everybody is Saturday, when all the 

 rubber - gatherers have to make their way to the 

 manager's quarters, to hand over the rubber they have 

 collected and to buy stores for the coming week. This 

 general meeting, called together by business, is taken 

 full advantage of as an opportunity for gossip, hos- 

 pitality, and various little jollifications, such as a 

 " sing-song." 



The population of a seringal consists of working-class 

 Brazilians, who are of Portuguese and mixed Portu- 

 guese and Indian descent. Certainly they look a 



