SOUTH AMERICA. 
285 
board a ship with me for England, but it was so fourth 
very susceptible of cold that it shivered and died,-— : 
three days after w r e had passed Antigua. 
If ever there should be a great demand for large Indian 
supplies of gum elastic, commonly called Indian rubber ' 
rubber, it may be procured in abundance far away 
in the wilds of Demerara and Essequibo. 
Some years ago, when I was in the Macoushi An Indian 
country, there was a capital trick played upon me 
about Indian rubber. It is almost too good to be 
left out of these wanderings, and it shows that the 
wild and uneducated Indian is not without abilities. 
Weary and sick, and feeble through loss of blood, 
I arrived at some Indian huts, which were about 
two hours distant from the place where the gum 
elastic trees grew. After a day and a night’s rest I 
went to them, and with my own hands made a fine 
ball of pure Indian rubber; it hardened immediately 
as it became exposed to the air, and its elasticity was 
almost incredible. 
While procuring it, exposure to the rain, which 
fell in torrents, brought on a return of inflammation 
in the stomach, and I w T as obliged to have recourse 
again to the lancet, and to use it with an unsparing 
hand. I wanted another ball, but was not in a state 
the next morning to proceed to the trees. A fine 
interesting young Indian observing my eagerness to 
have it, tendered his services, and asked two hands- 
full of fish-hooks for his trouble. 
Off he went, and to my great surprise returned in 
a very short time. Bearing in mind the trouble 
