124 RUBBER PLANTING ON THE 



hogs that consider any kind of snake, poisonous or otherwise, a great 

 delicacy, and that those that escape the hogs are very likely to he caught 

 by the hawks, which are very abundant and always on the watch. There 

 are only two really poisonous snakes there, as far as known ; one is the 

 rabade heuso, which is small, quick, and very deadly, and seems to have 

 a special antipathy to mules ; the second is called by the natives the 

 "sorda," and is something like the diamond rattlesnake, but has no 

 rattles. It has poison fangs an inch and a half long, is very slow to 

 move, and quite poisonous. There are also small pythons and some 

 big black racers, both harmless, however. 



We returned to La Buena Ventura late in the afternoon, and 

 after a good night's sleep, were fully prepared for further visiting. Our 

 next journey was to La Junta, the largest plantation in that district. 

 Like all the others, the approach was through the forest, by the usual 

 trail that meant considerable rough riding, the fording of streams, plod- 

 ding through mud, and climbing over fallen tree trunks. By this time 

 I was fairly used to it, however, and was enjoying it as I never would 

 have believed possible. It was early in the afternoon when we emerged 

 from the forest and struck the broad, fine road that runs through the 

 plantation. We were now on a ridge that gave a fine view, not only 

 of the rolling land covered with young rubber trees, but some two miles 

 of? we also saw the administration building and workmen's homes that 

 mark the certer of the planting operations. The estate contains some 

 five thousand acres, of which about one-half is already cleared, most 

 of it planted to rubber. The trees are from seven to nine feet apart, 

 and looked as if they were in prime condition. The orchard numbers 

 about seven hundred and fifty thousand rubber trees. The oldest were 

 two years and average 23.5 inches in diameter, a foot from the ground, 

 and about seven feet in height. For help, there are from two 

 hundred to four hundred men, one-half of whom are natives. Perhaps 

 here more than anywhere else has been tried the experiment of importing 

 labor, and not depending entirely upon the native, who is not at all 

 times entirely reliable. 



The average mozo, or agricultural laborer, is, however, a most 

 interesting study. If treated well, he is a good workman, ?nd that, too, 

 without any particular reason why he should be. In the community in 

 which he lives, he has allotted to him a certain amount of land, which 

 if tilled three months in the year very moderately, will produce enough 

 to keep its owner in what is to him comfort, the year round. As a rule, 

 the \nozo is of medium height, strong and skilled within certain narrow 



