16 RUBBER IN SIERRA LEONE 



in water for several weeks; the bark is then stripped 

 off and the rubber separated from it by beating and 

 washing. The roots are also treated in a similar man- 

 ner. The rubber thus obtained is cut into strips and 

 wound into balls. 



Another rubber-yielding vine, known as " Jawe," 

 which occurs throughout the eastern part of the Pro- 

 tectorate, has been identified as a species of Clitandra, 

 cf. C. laxiflora,'H.aM.\eri., whilst a false "Jawe" proves to 

 be Clitandra Mannii, Stapf. From the former vine the 

 latex is collected m bulk and coagulated by boiling. 



The Funtumia elastica tree is known as " Gboigboi " 

 in the Panguma district. To obtam' the rubber, the 

 natives usually felled the trees and tapped them by 

 making annular incisions in the bark at frequent inter- 

 vals. The latex was collected and heated in a pot over a 

 fire, the freshly coagulated rubber being removed, placed 

 between leaves on the ground, and stamped with the feet 

 until it was pressed out into a cake ; it was then cut 

 into strips and wound into balls. The Funtumia rubber 

 prepared in this way came into commerce under the 

 name of " Manoh twist." Sometimes the natives stripped 

 off the bark from the felled trees and extracted the rubber 

 from it by a process of beating and waslimg. This 

 practice of cutting down the trees is now being prevented 

 as far as possible. 



Ficus Vogelii, Miq., also occurs in Sierra Leone, and 

 its latex is said to be used by the natives for mixing with 

 that of Funtumia elastica and the rubber vines. 



The cultivation of the indigenous Funtumia elastica 

 has been undertaken on a small scale in Sierra Leone, 

 but the trees are not yet old enough for tapping. Ex- 

 periments with the Para tree {Hevea hrasiliensis) are also 

 in progress, small plantations of the trees havmg been 

 established at a number of stations, and the results so 

 far obtained are fairly promising. 



Gold Coast 



The production of rubber in the Gold Coast has shown 

 less diminution than in the Gambia and Sierra Leone. 

 The exports during the years 1890 to 1896 varied from 

 2i{ to 4 million lb. ; a rise then took place and the 



