It  then  began  in  Europe  its  industrial  use,  and  much  profit 
accrued  to  the  manufactures  of  catheters.  In  1779  the  Portuguese 
Government  sent  to  Para  the  physician  Dr.  FrxnciSCO  X.  D* 
Oliveira,  with  a view  to  encouraging  the  manufacture  of  surgical 
instruments  and  to  enliven  this  industry. 
In  1791,  Grassart,  applied  elastic  gum  in  the  manufacture  of 
tubes,  and  later,  Nadler,  in  the  preparation  of  thread,  and  from 
thence  arose  the  woven  or  tissue  industry. 
In  1850,  Para  still  exported  to  the  Provinces,  and  to  foreign 
parts,  shoes  and  syringes,  these  constituting  one  of  the  sources  of 
trade  of  that  Province. 
The  exportation  of  these  elastic  products  to  Europe  began  in 
1825,  t>ut  with  them  were  also  sent  elastic  gum  in  its  crude  state. 
Its  use  spread  and  very  much  increased  after  the  discovery  of  the 
process  of  its  vulcanization. 
Till  1840,  its  exportation  consisted  almost  entirely  of  shoes. 
.After  1850  this  indigenous  industry  ceased.  In  1825,  a lb.  of  pure 
rubber  was  worth  loo  Reis,  and  until  1840,  it  was  purely  a native 
industry,  like  that  of  ^uaranci.  (i) 
Increasing  gradually  this  exportation  through  the  development 
of  foreign  industries,  the  extraction  of  gum  passed  from  native 
hands  into  the  keeping  of  civilized  people  and  of  tapuyos  i.e.  Bra- 
zilian savages. 
The  formation  of  rubber  extracting  depots  followed  as  a matter 
of  course  into  which  flocked  the  descendants  of  the  Indians,  who, 
abandoning  their  homes  and  other  ties,  and  lured  by  the  seductions 
of  this  industry,  eventually  found  themselves  delivered  bodily  into 
the  fetters  of  the  slaver.  It  should  however  be  noted  that  this  in- 
dustry was  always  in  the  keeping  of  free-men  notwithstanding  the 
existence  of  slavery  in  those  days;  nevertheless  such  was  the  sys- 
tem then  in  vogue,  that  those  engaged  in  it  were  reduced  to  misery 
and  to  the  condition  of  slavery. 
Then  appeared  on  the  scene  the  travelling  merchants  or  pedlars, 
and  with  them,  the  further  degradation  of  existing  customs,  im- 
morality, and  its  concomitants. 
The  population  began  to  diminish  and  with  this  diminution 
languished  all  other  industries,  such  as  those  of  indigo,  coffee,  cot- 
ton, tobacco,  and  tapioca,  all  to  make  room  for  this  foreign  trade 
in  rubber,  which  continued  to  flourish,  killing  everything  before  it, 
tillage,  husbandry  and  all. 
Rubber  trading  depots  increased  in  proportion,  rivers  were  ex- 
plored, Indians  took  to  flight  and  concentrated,  yet,  notwithstand- 
ing this  agglomeration  of  population,  those  in  the  villages  kept 
diminishing  to  supplant  those  in  the  depots,  who  were  being  deci- 
mated by  disease  or  migrated  from  one  river  to  another.  Thus 
declined  and  disappeared  whole  villages. 
In  1877,  C^ara  was  in  the  throes  of  a famine  fanned  by  a long 
drought,  causing  the  population  of  that  province  to  emigrate  en  masse 
to  the  Amazons.  This  gave  rise  to  an  increased  production  of  rub- 
'i)  Paullinia  sorbilis. 
