84 EVERYDAY LIFE ON A 



even this fetches a remunerative price. 

 The rubbering season commences when the 

 tree is leafless. For some weeks large yellow 

 rubber leaves, and the red tint of the almond 

 trees, have given an autumnal glow to the 

 woods, but now the rubbers stretch their 

 great limbs leafless to the view, and the 

 tapping has commenced. Rubber is a milky 

 sap lying between the inner bark and the 

 wood. The process consists of first taking off 

 a yard or so of outer bark, then making 

 incisions in the inner bark from which the 

 milky sap slowly oozes. Just below the foot 

 of these incisions a little piece of bark is lifted 

 and a frond of cocoanut palm is inserted into 

 the slit, which acts as a trough down which 

 the rubber runs into a cocoanut shell below. 

 Every half hour, or so, the men go round to 

 empty the shells, if full, into a large earthen 

 chatty, and to cut each incision a little larger 

 so that the flow may continue, otherwise it 

 quickly dries up. Rubber will not run during 

 the great heat of the day, so the coolies 

 commence work at day-break, knock off at 

 ii a.m., begin again at 3 p.m. till 5 o'clock. 

 When, having first washed it, they bring 

 their collection of rubber to the store to be 

 weighed. Each cooly collects daily from 3 to 

 5 lbs. and it is work of which they are 

 extremely fond. 



