lOI 
think,  assist  the  reader  to  form  his  own  opinion  as  to  the  desirability 
of  attempting  to  work  such  properties  by  means  of  companies  whose 
headquarters  are  established  in  foreign  countries.  The  extracts  are 
as  follows  : — 
Our  trade  on  the  Javary  river  dates  as  far  back  as  1888^  when  we 
began  to  work  it  up,  not  possessing  at  that  time  any  properties  or 
land  of  any  kind.  By  degress  we  bought  with  ready  cash  or  by 
transfer  contracts  (mortgages)  the  India-rubber  plantations  which 
we  now  possess,  but  having  insufficient  capital  to  develop  them 
thoroughly,  we  decided  to  transfer  the  same  to  some  concern  or  per- 
son possessed  of  sufficient  means  to  do  so,  and  we  feel  sure  that  a 
return  of  50  per  cent,  on  the  capital  employed  will  be  obtained,  and 
even  much  more  if  the  estates  are  properly  worked.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  one  trader  we  have  the  monopoly  of  the  Javary  and 
Curuca  (a  tributary)  trade  ; so  that  if  the  trader  to  whom  we  have 
alluded  were  bought  up,  a matter  of  no  difficulty,  the  entire  control 
of  those  rivers  would  be  obtained.  To  conclude  we  beg  to  state 
that  our  properties  are  of  enormous  extent,  and  are  connected,  a 
great  advantage  not  easy  to  be  met  with,  and  we  feel  confident 
that  if  properly  worked  the  revenue  will  be  trebled  in  say  three 
years. 
The  net  profits  are  given  in  this  statement  as  1973  per  cent,  on 
the  turnover,  in  addition  to  which  there  is  lo  per  cent,  commission 
on  the  gross  value  of  the  goods  supplied  for  the  keeping  of  the 
working  staff.  The  documents  is  verv  voluminous  and  I forbear 
from  quoting  any  more,  but  it  is  at  the  Editor’s  disposal  at  any 
time.  It  represents  the  position  on  October  19th,  1898,  as  stated 
by  the  owners. 
The  Comptoir  Colonial  Fran^ais  was  formed,  I believe,  in  1899, 
and  got  to  work  early  in  1900.  It  is  now,  as  Mr.  WlTT  has  pointed 
out,  in  bankruptcy.  I will  give  my  views  as  to  the  reason  tor  this 
unfortunate  result  further  on. 
Rut  the  Comptoir  Colonial  Fran^ais  was  not  the  first  company 
formed  to  work  rubber  estates  in  South  America.  The  earliest  of 
which  I have  any  knowledge  was  the  Orton  (Bolivia)  Rubber  Co., 
Limited,  floated  a year  or  two  before  the  Comptoir  Colonial  Fram,'ai.<. 
The  properties  lately  belonging  to  the  Orton  Company  are  situaterl 
on^the  river  Orton,  which  is  in  the  Acre  territory,  near  Sir  Marti.X 
CON\VA\’’s  concession,  and  only  a few  miles  from  the  headquarters 
of  the  river  Acre,  d'he  estates  were  the  property  of  Dr.  \ ACA 
DiKZand  a partner.  DiEZ  came  to  Europe,  interested  some  I'rcnch 
financiers,  and  a company  was  formed  under  the  company  laws  ol 
Great  Britain.  A considerable  amount  of  working  capital  was  pro- 
vided, and  Vaca  Diez,  having  enlisted  the  services  of  a number  of 
Basques  {Natives  of  the  Biscay  provinces  of  Spain  and  the  nen^h- 
horing  French  provinces)  and  others,  returned  to  tlu'  .Amazon, 
('bartered  a large  steamboat  at  Para,  and  started  lor  his  (‘statf'S. 
1 have  conversed  with  more  than  one  member  of  that  unfortunate 
expedition.  Somewhere  about  200  hiuroj)eans  would-be  rubber 
collectors  left  Para  for  the  estates;  1 have  been  told  that  only  six 
reached  it.  Vaca  Diez  and  the  principal  leaders  were  drowned  in 
