November, 1910,] 



387 



Saps and Exudations. 



At the beginning of the smoke process 

 the core of the pelle is dipped into the 

 latex, drained, and the film smoked. 

 As the ball grows larger and heavier 

 the latex is carefully poured over it as 

 it turns. Much of the latex is coagulates 

 in the air. This is in the form of thin 

 films on the sides of the vessels, drip- 

 pings in various parts of the camp, and 

 latex that started to coagulate before 

 there was time to smoke it. This forms 

 the grade known as coarse Para. 



Day after day until Saturday the 

 seringueiro pursues his monotonous task. 

 On that day, he, with the half dozen 

 others or more whose estradas join his, 

 take their balls of rubber to the seringal, 

 where they are credited with the num- 

 ber of pounds gathered, at say 50 per 

 cent, of the market value as they know 

 it. The other 50 per cent, is to indemnify 

 the owner of the seringal for shrinkage, 

 freight, and so on. The rubber ball is 

 then branded with the mark of the 

 aviador and stored awaiting shipment. 

 Oftentimes too it is sunned that it may 

 not dry out too rapidly. 



His week's work finished, the serin 

 gueiro goes to the store, gets supplies 

 of provisions for the next week, not 

 forgetting plenty of " cachaca," which 

 are debited to him at about 100 per 

 cent, above the cost price. 



The owner of the seringal makes his 

 profit almost entirely out of what he 

 sells to the seringueiro. The latter is 

 obliged to buy goods only at the store, 

 or else hunt some other seringal, the 

 owner of which must assume his debt, 

 which always exists, with a 20 per cent, 

 increase for the transfer. 



Side Lights on Rcjbber Gathering. 



The tree tappers are not careful of 

 the trees. Naturally improvident, they 

 would destroy them in one year if it 

 meant more rubber, but fortunately 

 more rubber cannot be gotten in this 

 way from the Hevea, and so the trees 

 survive and continue to produce year 

 after year. There are stories of rubber 

 gatherers on the upper reaches of the 

 river who build fires about the bases of 

 the great trees to stimulate the flow of 

 latex, but no one seems able to verify 

 such tales. 



The tapping season may last from 

 three to six months. This depends on 

 location and on the size and condition 

 of the trees. Sometimes the trees are 

 tapped daily, sometimes every other 

 day. Often they are given a rest for 

 a year, Tho amount of rubber secured 

 per tree is difficult to estimate, but it 

 probably does not exceed two or three 



pounds, and in some districts that have 

 been constantly worked for a number 

 of years, even less than that. Old rub- 

 ber men tell stories of estradas of a 

 hundred trees that would turn in 20 to 

 30 pounds of rubber a day, but they 

 agree that the time of such production 

 is long past. 



The actual extent of the rubber forests 

 in the Amazon country is unknown, 

 but according to those who have done 

 a good deal of exploring only the fringe 

 has been touched. The seringces and 

 temporary rubber camps are all located 

 along the waterways. This means work- 

 ing the territory about a mile inland. 

 The rest of the forest, comprising 

 thousands of square miles, is as yefc un- 

 touched. This is true not only in 

 Amazonas and the other great interior 

 states, but of the state of Para as well. 

 With labour and proper exploitation 

 four times as much rubber could come 

 out of the Amazon as is obtained at 

 present. 



The securing of labourers is the most 

 difficult part of the undertaking. To 

 get a rubber estate in the Amazon valley 

 is easy. Millions of acres of land with 

 rubber trees are without owners. The 

 land costs nothing, the government exac- 

 ting a fee only when it is registered. 



A "Visit to Oncas Island. 

 One of the leading exporters in Para is 

 a wonderful producer of artistic photo- 

 graphs. It is natural that he should 

 have taken boat journeys through the 

 island and up and down the great rivers, 

 not only in search of rubber knowledge 

 but in pursuit of his own particular fad. 

 It was most gratefully, therefore, that I 

 accepted his invitation to take a launch 

 trip to Isla des Oncas, the great island 

 that lies some miles to the south of the 

 city. This island is cut in two by a 

 narrow natural canal which, at high 

 water, is navigable by canoes and row 

 boats. To catch the tide meant an early 

 start. So I awoke the Yankee Consul 

 and the visiting manufacturer at 4 o'clock 

 and after coffee we hastened down to 

 the water front, arriving just as the 

 Exporter appeared, with several porters 

 laden with eatables and drinkables. 



To cross to the island we embarked in 

 a little three-cylinder kerosene launch 

 and soon were chuff-chuffing across the 

 bay for the " Island of Tiger Cats." Once 

 over to the mangrove f ringed shore we 

 coasted up and down until finally the 

 sharp eyes of our pilot detected the 

 little opening of the channel. We were 

 then transferred to the rowboat that 

 had been trailing behind, 



