cording to the season of the year, the rainy or the dry season, 
the greater or less the distance to be navigated, in short, in 
accordance with the condition of navigability of the rivers, the 
trips are made fortnightly, quarterly or perhaps only twice a 
ear. 
The merchandise dispatched is debited to the owner of the 
“seringal” at the invoice price, augmented by the high expenses 
for insurance, freight and a commission which varies from 
20 to 30 per cent. according to the time-term stipulated for the 
payment in cash or the delivery of the rubber. 
The owner of the “seringal” in his turn re-sells in retail the 
merchandise received, putting on a high profit to its original 
price; the seringueiros who already pay interest at the rate of 
20 per cent upon the advance of the 350$000 which is made to 
them at the time of their being contracted, are obliged to supply 
their needs exclusively in the store of the proprietor of the 
“seringal” and to hand him the rubber which they may have 
gathered in payment thereof. 
The initial supplying of the utensils amounting to 200$000 
added to the cost of the journey which runs for account of the 
seringueiro himself, absorb the 850$000 of the advance; and 
his expenses, whilst the extraction of the rubber is proceed- 
ing—which lasts for 6 or % months—totals up to about 
1:000$000, so that when he comes to hand over the rubber, he 
is already responsible to the proprietor of the “seringal” for an 
amount of about 350$000 including the payment for the renting 
of the road explored. 
His production being on an average of about 400 kilos (in 
certain regions it is much greater), the worker finishes his en- 
terprise with a very small profit and it is not a rare case that he 
is not able to satisfy all his indebtedness, a circumstance, this 
latter, which keeps him continually dependent upon the owner 
of the “seringal.” 
On handing over the rubber, the conditions of payment are 
adjusted and these are generally made in one of the two fal- 
lowing ways: either the seringueiro sells the rubber directly to 
the proprietor of the “seringal” at a reduction of one-third upon 
the prices ruling in the markets of Belém or Manaos; or he en- 
charges him to sell it in the referred-to market with a discount 
of 35 kilos of rubber or with a discount'of from 10 to 15 per cent. 
of the net price of such sale, given in payment of the renting of 
the road exploited. 
-. This defective economic organization of the exploitation of 
rubber has, as its consequence, the high costs of production 
which to-day oscillate between 3$000 to 8$500 per kilo. This 
28 
