CAOUTCHOUC, ETC 



227 



the people have learned to extract a coarse 

 article, and to adulterate it till it is hardly 

 tradeable. Here they use the thinner branches, 

 well oiled for suppleness, as 6 bakurs ' — the po- 

 liceman's truncheon, the cat-o' -nine-tails, the 

 6 Chob,' and the 6 Palmatorio ' of E. Africa. I 

 may here remark that our gourd-shaped articles 

 resist the climate of Zanzibar, whilst the squares 

 and the vulcanized preparations become sticky 

 and useless. The London-made blankets of 

 smooth and glazed caoutchouc are so valuable 

 that no traveller should be without them : those 

 that are not polished, however, cannot be called 

 waterproof; becoming wet inside, they are un- 

 pleasantly cold. Por exposure to the sun white 

 impermeables must be preferred to black, and a 

 first-rate article is required; our cheap boots 

 and cloaks soon opened, and when exposed to 

 great heat they were converted into a viscid 

 mass. 



The tamarind, as in India, is a splendid tree, 

 but the fruit, though used for acidulated drinks, is 

 not prepared for exportation. A smooth-rooted 

 sarsaparilla, of lighter colour than the growth of 

 the Brazil and Jamaica, is found wild upon the 

 Island and the coast. The orchilla, which gives 

 its name to the Insulae Purpuraria?, has been 



