THE CUBA REVIEW 



17 



bold-eyed fighting cocks were tethered close to my bed. I also awoke once in the night 

 when a heavy shower drove a score or more of the big black hogs to cover tmder the 

 house, where they squealed, grunted and crowded one another for half an hour before 

 settling down to sleep. 



"The morning broke clear, cool and delightful, and after coffee we went out to view 

 the plantation. The valley broadened out and consisted of a fertile alluvial plain some 

 ten feet above the river. Here were thousands of cocoanut trees in full bearing. There 

 was also coffee, many acres of cocoa and a forest of huge bananas. 



"It was, however, rubber that we were in search of and we found it. The trees, 

 Castilloas. were very large and thrifty. The leaf suggested the Guatemaloisis and I 

 was pleased when Don Angel remarked that a near relative of his had married the 

 president of Guatemala and brought the seed from that country. The latex was thick 

 and rich and flowed even in the middle of the day. There were only 20 or 30 of the big 

 trees, but on the ground be- '^ 



neath were hundreds of 

 young seedlings. In fact, 

 here was the nucleus of an 

 exceedingly valuable Castilloa 

 plantation. We coagulated 

 some of the latex with al- 

 cohol and got a clean, strong 

 and mature rubber. It was 

 here that I added a rather 

 unusual bit of rubber in- 

 formation to my store. Don 

 Angel in tapping one of the 

 trees got some of the latex 

 in one of his eyes and was 

 suffering intensely. I sug- 

 gested warm water and we 

 went back to the house .for 

 it. The lady of the house, 

 however, knew a better 

 remedy, namely, human milk. 

 This she applied dexterously 

 and promptly from her own 

 ample store and the pain was 

 at once allayed. 



"The tale of an indigenous 

 rubber tree that could be 

 found up the mountain side 

 took us up one of the steep 

 trails as far as the horses 

 could go ; then we climbed. 

 We found the tree, the 

 "Lechugo." but the latex was 

 of no value commercially and 

 except for the exercise and 

 the fine appetites developed 

 b}' it the excursion bore nn 

 fruit. The travelers explorei 

 all the rivers in the neighbor 

 hood, fed on tropical fruit.~ 

 and grew more fascinatei 

 with the country. Their 

 dinners each evening at the 

 plantation house 'were abun- 

 dant and picturesque.' The 

 freshest of eggs, fish from 

 the rapidh' flowing rivers, 

 fresh pork and chicken. 



"The dogs of the planta- 

 tion are really to be re- 

 spected. Left to guard a 

 house, no one may enter. They 

 will fearlessly attack the huge 

 wild boars that are found Largest Castilloa in Cuba, 58 years oirl. 



