182 VOYAGE DOWN THE RIO NEGEO. 



hovels inhabited. We sought, among the few Indians re- 

 maining in the miserable huts, swallowed up by weeds and 

 the encroaching forest, for a pilot to take the place of the 

 one who had so unceremoniously forsaken us ; but none 

 could be induced to accompany us, nor did we meet with 

 better success in our many attempts to secure one after- 

 ward. 



Conucos of India-rubber gatherers were now frequent- 

 ly met Avith, but all were found wonderfully destitute of 

 food. We spent some little time at several ; observing 

 with interest the wonders of rubber-making. The tree 

 from which this product is obtained has a tall, straight 

 trunk, with a smooth, gray bark, beautiful foliage of ter- 

 nate leaves, and attains a height of seventy to one hun- 

 dred feet. The process of manufacturing the seringa, or 

 rubber, is simple. A withe, or slender twig, is bound 

 tightly around the tree, higher up on one side than upon 

 the other. Longitudinal gashes are then made in the 

 trunk, from which a whitish, cream-like gum exudes, and 

 is caught in a small clay cup j^laced upon the ground. 

 Each incision yields daily about half a gill : new gashes 

 are made every morning. The cups, when full, are emp- 

 tied by the serlngero, or rubber-gatherer, into a large 

 vessel, which is carried at once to his conuco, and the sub- 

 stance immediately formed into the desired shape, as it 

 quickly coagulates. With a fire built from the small nuts 

 of the Inaga-palm {Jfaximiliana regia), upon one side, 

 and his pot of milk upon the other, the seringero seats 

 himself upon a rough bench and commences operations. 

 With a cup he poiirs the fluid over the mold, to which a 

 thin coating adheres ; then holds it for a moment in the 

 smoke, Avbich dries and colors the rubber, and repeats the 

 process until his work is completed. The mold is con- 

 structed either of wood or clay ; if of the first, it is coated 

 with clay, that the rubber may be more easily removed ; 



