MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS 509 



on by Europeans, it is necessary to distinguish between 

 agriculture properly so-called, more or less rudimentary, 

 and the mere collection or extraction of natural pro- 

 ducts. The principal products resulting from both 

 methods of exploitation are dealt with in the following 

 sections. 



Rubber. 



Rubber producing plants belonging to the genus 

 Landolphia exist in the Territories, and although their 

 distribution has not yet been definitely ascertained it 

 may be said that they flourish " roughly in the district 

 bounded by the rivers Lugenda, Rovuma and Msalu, 

 and the Coast, from the banks of the last-named river 

 as far as the Concelho of Quissanga, and in the north 

 of the Lake Concelho, near the rivers Rovuma, Msinge, 

 etc." (Governor Pires Viegas.) 



The most characteristic rubber districts are the 

 Makonde district in the eastern portion of the Terri- 

 tories, and in the valleys of the Msinge and Luchilingo, 

 tributaries of the Rovuma, in the west of the Terri- 

 tories, the last-named having been recognized within <the 

 last few years. 



With a few and unimportant exceptions which are 

 mentioned below, the rubber is extracted by the natives 

 by various processes, the principal of which are 

 the "incision" and the "boiling" methods. In 

 regard to these processes, and the general question of 

 rubber in the Territories, what was written by Governor 

 Vilhena on pages 378 and. following of his Reports and 

 Memoirs may be read with much profit. His inform- 

 ation, which comprises a study of the subject up to 1903, 

 is summarized below and amplified with more recent 

 details. 



The problem of the best method of extracting Lan- 

 dolphia rubber, although theoretically decided, is not 

 so easy in practice. Natives preferably employ the 

 method of " boiling," which is prejudicial to the plants 

 and gives a product of inferior quality. Indirect means 

 have been employed to stop this method. The first was 

 to prohibit the exploitation of rubber extracted by boiling. 



