The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1879-06-05
Rubber G.,herinr on the Amazon.

The rubber-swamps are all around, bu
land travelling is out Of the question. 5,
an Indian canoc-man is engaged-a rood
natured fellow, and an adept in wood
craft. He sets us across the river at
halfruined hut, where bright vines clam
Der over the broken thatch and hang IL
long festoons in front of the low doorway
but within, the floor is sodden black clay
and dark mold hangs on the side, and th'
air is like sepulcher. The single slovcn
ly BsdHelucd woman who inhabits tn,
place complains bitterly ofthe aguc which
tortures her; yet year after year, until tn,
house falls to pieces, she will go on dyin,
here, because, forsoOth, il is her own an(
the rubber trees are near. She will no
even repair the structure. You can sc,
sky through the roof, but if rain drives in
she will swing her hammock in anothe
corner, and shiver ON through the night a
best she may; for tomorrow there are
rubber trees to be tapped, and fresh har
vest of the precious milk TO be brough
home-and what will you haveg On,
must expect discomfort in swamp.
Back of the house the rubber trees ART
scattered through marshy forest, wher,
we Chamber over logs and sink into pool
of mud and leap the puddlcs; where thu
mosquitoes are blOodthirsty, and nature j.
damp and dark and threatening; wher,
the silence is unbroken by beast or bird
q silence that can be felt; 1t is like toml
in which we are buried away from ths
sunshine, away from brute and man, alone
with rotting death. The very beauty o.
our forest tomb makes us shudder by il.
intenseness.
In the early morning men and women
come with baskets of clay cups on theil
backs, and little hatchets to cash the trees
Where the white milk drips down from
the cash they stick their cups on the trunk
with daubs of clay, moulded SO as to catch
the whole flow. II the tree is large one
four or five gashes may be cut in a circle
around the trunk. On the next day other
gashes are made little below these, and
so on until the gashes reach the ground
BY II O'Clock the flow of milk has ceased
and the seringuelros come to collect the
contents of the cups in calabash jugs. A
gill or SO is the utmost yield from each
tree, and a single gatherer may attend to
100 trees or more, wading always through
these dark marshes, and paying dearly
for his profit in fever and weakness.
Our m0nseiuca hostess has brought in
her days gathering-a calabash full of
white liquid. in appearance precisely like
lates after a while and forms an inferior
whitish gum. To make the black rubber
of commerce the milk must go through a
peculiar process OF manufacture, for
which our guide has been preparing.
Over a smoldcrin1 fire, fed with hard nuts
Of the tueuma palm, he places kind of
clay chimney, like wide-mounted, bot
tomlcss jug; through this 6oidO the thick
smoke pOurs in a constant stream. Now
he takes his mold--in this case u wooden
one, like a round-blsded paddle-washes
it with the milk. and holds it over the
smoke until the liquid coagulates. Then
another coat is added, only now, rs the
wood is heated, the milk coagulates faster
1t may take the gaiheringsof of two OF three
days to cover the the mold thickly enough
Then the rubberis still dull white, but in
a short time il turns brown and finally al
most black, us it is sent to the market
The mass is cut from the paddle and sold
TO traders in the village. Bottles are
made by molding the rubber
over clay ball, which is then broken up
and removed. Our Old fashioned rubber
shoes used TO be made in this way.-[From
Scribner for June.