78 RUBBER 



nothing but a cloth round their loins, and a handker- 

 chief, knotted into a turban, on their heads. Many of 

 the male folk look like women ; they have long hair, 

 which is twisted at the neck into a " bun," and their 

 nether garment is a piece of cotton material which is 

 hung round the waist skirt-fashion. The women's 

 costumes are evidently made as they dress themselves. 

 They are clad in draperies, which hang in graceful folds. 

 Very large earrings, nose-rings, numbers of bangles 

 that reach half-way up the arms, and bangles round 

 the ankles are striking features of their attire. 



Most of these labourers are Tamils from India. A 

 large proportion of the coolies employed on the rubber 

 estates of Ceylon and Malaya consists of Tamils. In 

 Ceylon, some of the labourers are Cingalese ; in Malaya, 

 the rubber estate coolies include a few Malays, some 

 Javanese, and a number of Chinese. In both countries 

 it is very difficult for the planters to get as much labour 

 as they require, in spite of the large immigrant popula- 

 tion, and in order to make an estate pay, the man at 

 the head of affairs, and all his assistants, must be so 

 skilful at managing the natives that this particular 

 estate is never the one to be short of hands. 



Following a tapper on his round in a plantation is a 

 very easy expedition compared with that journey we 

 took with a seringueiro to see him get his morning's 

 milk. The plantation tapper is surrounded by rubber- 

 trees, they are never very far apart, and even when, 

 for some reason or other, he has to pass one by without 

 operating on it, the distance from his last stopping- 

 place to his next is quite short. As a rule, only trees 

 that measure at least 18 inches round at 3 feet from 

 the ground are tapped, but some trees, even though 



