78 
Hooker's Journal of Botany deus vii, 1855, pp. 193-196). This 
gives a graphie account of t he beginning of the Men d and 
preparation of Para rubber 
* When I ascended the Rio Negro in 1851, I pointed out to the 
inhabitants the abundance of seringa trees they ssessed in their 
forests, and tried to induce them to set about exisacting the gum ; 
but they shook their heads, and said it would never answer. At 
length the demand for india-rubber, especially from the United 
tes, began to exceed the supply; the price consequently rose 
The next doti account is a * Report on the Vili. qi 
and collecting of ro. and seeds of the india-rubber trees of 
Para, &e.," by Robert Cross, presented to the Under Secretary of 
State for India i in 1877. Extract ts from this are given below 
Mr. Churchill’s report, already cited, contains the jntöat and 
most authentic information in regard to the Para rubber industry. 
‘ Out of a revenue of £428,894 collected on exports in the State 
n Para in 1896-97, T 295 was collected on rubber alone. The 
export duty is 23 per ce 
e entire ques crop of 1895-96 amounted to 20, Jd 
tons, S hiieds that of 1896-97 reached 22,315 tons, an increase 
6:4 per cent. The crop of the State of Para nter 1896-97 
amounted to 8,844 tons. 
The sources of the rubber supply of the Amazonian region are 
approximately given by Mr. Consul Churchill, as follows 
Sources, Quantity. 
Tons. 
From River Purtis Et iis MT A ie E 3,500 
» » Madeira ja eva EN E o" 2,200 
» „ 4Juruá A ES M BIN js Pn 2,100 
k »  Rolimóes i SUR ids us ses idea 1,000 
T á f Qui bes kò 700 
b vary and Port of Iquitos ká e den 1,500 
» Peru ani Bal scr de each ) "e Ses des 2,000 
» PM ae oF 9,000 
Apteotipala annual production ... "ss 22,000 
