231 



we arrived at the mission of Jayita, that the 

 dapicho was a fossil caoutchouc, though differ- 

 ent from the elastic bitumen of Derbyshire. A 

 Poimisano Indian seated by the fire, in the hut 

 of the missionary, was employed in reducing 

 the dapicho into black caoutchouc. He had 

 spitted several bits on a slender stick, and was 

 roasting them like meat. The dapicho blackens 

 in proportion as it grows softer, and gains in 

 elasticity. The resinous and aromatic smell, 

 which filled the hut, seemed to indicate, that 

 this coloration is the effect of the decomposi- 

 tion of a carburet of hydrogen, and that the 

 carbon appears in proportion as the hydrogen 

 burns at a low heat*. The Indian beat the 

 softened and blackened mass with a piece of 

 brazil wood, ending in form of a club ; he then 

 kneaded the dapicho into balls of three or four 

 inches in diameter, and let it cool. These balls 

 exactly resemble the caoutchouc of the shops, 

 but their surface remains in general slightly 

 viscous. They are used at San Balthasar in the 

 Indian game of tennis, which is so celebrated 

 among the inhabitants of Uruana and Encara- 

 mada ; they are cut into cylinders, to be used 

 as corks, and are far preferable to those made 

 of the bark of the cork tree. 



* See Mr. Allen's Memoir. 

 P. 77.) 



(Journal de Phys., vol. xvii, 



