I $9 



Mr. VICE CONSUL TEMPLE'S REPORT ON THE 

 STATE OF AMAZONAS FOR 1899, 



Continued. 



Shipment of the Rubber. 



The rubber having been prepared it is shipped from the estates 

 in " balls " or " pellets " to merchants in Manaos, and by them 

 sold to one or other of the export merchants in the same condition 

 as received. By the export merchant it is cut up into small pieces 

 the " Fine " separated from the " Entrefine," and then packed in 

 wooden cases, each case holding about 170 or 160 kilos. It is then 

 shipped to Europe or the United States as the case may be. Owing 

 to the loss of weight already mentioned each merchant is obliged 

 to have his own store, as no warehouseman could give a receipt 

 for a quantity of produce the weight of which is constantly varying. 

 For the same reason rubber is rarely sold by auction. 



The commercial system by means of which the working of rub- 

 ber estates is effected is somewhat complicated. Goods are in the 

 first place imported from abroad by one class of merchants- named 

 u Importadores. " In Manaos and Para most of these are at pre- 

 sent Portuguese houses. They usually buy on 90 days' credit. 

 The goods are then sold on the Manaos market to another class of 

 merchants named " Aviadores, " who generally buy on a 12th 

 months' credit. These " Aviadores " then ship the goods up coun- 

 try to the estate owners. The " Aviador " business is chiefly in the 

 hands of Brazilian and Portuguese firms. The estate owners then 

 barter these goods to the men working their estates, who are not 

 so much labourers as small tenants, the rubber trees being leased 

 to them, for the rubber which they extract, paying them any dif- 

 ference that may remain to their credit, over and above the value 

 of the goods supplied to them in cash. This rubber is then shipped 

 by the estate owners to the " Aviadores " in payment of the goods 

 that have been consigned to them. The "Aviadores" on receipt 

 of the rubber sell it without delay to avoid loss in weight, to one 

 of the exporting firms, receiving payment at once in cash. With 

 this the "Aviadores" pay the ''Importadores." The exporting 

 house cut, pack, and ship the rubber drawing against shipments, 

 generally on London credits, at 90 days' sight, and selling their 

 bills to bankers at Para. Shipping documents have generally to 

 accompany the draft, and in case of shipments to the United States, 

 a certified Consular invoice. Manaos being without telegraphic 

 communication, and consequently without foreign banks, the ex- 

 porting houses which buy rubber on this market are obliged to keep 

 a supply of cash in hand to pay for rubber bought, which as has 

 been already stated has to be paid for at once in cash. Such is the 

 so called "Aviador" system, and so far it has been found to 

 answer better than other methods of doing business. Suggestions 

 have been made whereby it is proposed to eliminate some of these 

 middlemen, and to bring the consumer into closer contact with the 



