AND THE MALAY STATES 



75 



to the walls, while huge lanterns hung from the ceiling. In the rear 

 rooms were many brick tanks about 20X20 feet and five feet high, covered 

 with cement, in which the gutta was stored under water. The floor was 

 tiled and piled high with blocks and rolls of gutta, which, to keep 

 off oxidization, was frequently wet down by turning a stream of water 

 on it by means of a hose. Although they were equipped with reboiling 

 tanks, none were then in use, so we were taken to a nearby warehouse 

 where the work was in progress. 



The Gutta-percha as the reboilers receive it comes in large crumbly 

 cakes. These cakes are put in a tank and boiled in hot water, after 



NEW MOHAMMEDAN MOSQUE, JOHORE VIEW FROM SEASIDE. 



which the mass is run through a large mangle turned by t\vo coolies 

 and fed by a third. It is next dumped into a tank of cold water, allowed 

 to cool, and then stacked up to dry out. After drying it is cut into 

 shreds by coolies who use great cleavers for the purpose, and it is 

 again boiled, and sheeted, and cooled as before. The same process is 

 gone through with a third time, but when the sheets come from the 

 mangle this time the gutta is folded into neat rectangular blocks and is 

 ready for market. The boiling, sheeting, and cooling, toughens the 



