THE AMAZON AXH MADEmA RIVERS. 
jXeiir tlic PitAiA DE Tamanihu avo acquaiiitod oursolvos with nil 
tho particulars respecting the collection and preparation <jf the caout-. 
ehonc, at the cottage of a Bolivian seringneiro, Don Domingo Leigne. 
As I ha\'o already stated, tho Siphonia grows, or at least thrives, only 
on a soil Avherein its stem is aimually submergt'd by the floods to the 
height of 0 feet or more. Tire best ground fc»r it, therefore, is the 
igapo, the lowest and most recent deposit of tho river; and there, in 
the immediate vieinity of the scringaes, may be seen tho low thatches 
of the gatherers’ lints, Avrcstched hovels mostly, rendered teuaiitable 
during the inundations by the dcAdce of raising the floors on Avooden 
piles of 7 feet height, in AAdii(;h the canoe, the seringueiro’s iudis- 
])ensable horse, also finds a protected harbour. Unenviable truly must 
be the life of the happy proprietor, Avho has nothing to do in the 
seringa! during the Avet season, and avIio then has ample leisure to 
calculate exactly the intervals betAveeu his fits of ague, and to let 
himself be devoured by canqiauas, piums, motiicas, and mucuims ; under 
Avhich euphonious names are knoAvn some of the most terrible of insect 
pests. 
NaiTOAV paths lead from the cottage, through the dense underwood, 
to each separate tree ; and, as soon as the dry season sets in, the, 
inmate of the palace just described betakes himself AAuth his hatchet 
into the soringal, to cut little holes in the bark. The milk-Avhitc sap 
immediately begins to exude into pieces of bamboo tied below, OAmr 
little clay cups set under the gashes to preAmnt then’ trickling down 
the stems. The collector travels thus from trunk to trunk; and, to 
facilitate operations, on his return \dsit he pours the contents of tho 
bamboos into a large calabash provided with liana straps, which he 
empties at home into one of those large turtle-shells so auxiliary to 
housekeeping in these regions, senung as they do for troughs, 
basins, &c. 
Without any delay he sets about the smoking process, as the 
resinous parts Avill separate after a while, and the quality of the 
rubber so become inferior. An earthen jar, Avithout bottom and Avith 
a ntu’i’OAV neck, is set by Avuiy of chimney over a fire of dry urucuiy, 
or uauassu palm-nuts,* AA'hose smoke alone, strange to say, has the 
eflect of instantly coagulating the caoutchouc sap, Avhich, in this state. 
"■ Two species of Attalea, tlie latter witli gigimtie leaves. 
