Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-02-27
How they Get India Rubber.

Having passed fully three years on
the southwest coast of Africa, as trader
for an English firm. will endeayor
to describe the manner'in which India
rubber is procured in that country, as
India rubber formed the staple produce
of the district where l was located.
The natives are in a very rude, un-
civilized condition. They have no
currency, and do all business by
bartering the native products for
manufactured stuffs. Their wealth
consists chiefly in the number of slaves
they possess, who fish, hunt, and keep
their plantations in good order.
When rubber has to be collected,
from four to ten slaves get their flint
muskets in order, each carrying, in
addition, long sword-shaped knife
called a machete, q number of Gala
bashes Oh jars to collect the juice of the
rubber vine, and q little food that has
been cured in smoke, as they can find
plenty of sustenance in the bush with
out carrying it about with them from
place to place.
The vines are in some cases near to
towns, but generally the natives have
to go several days journey into the
bush before they can sit down and
commence business. The vine itself
is of rough, knotty nature, about
as thick as a mans arm, and grows to
a length of fully two hundred feet.
It's leaves are glossy, like those Of the
South American tree, and large fruit
much liked by the natives, is gathered
from it. I have tasted it, and found
it very palatable, being slightly acid.
This vine what it's scientific name is
I don't pretend to know yields several
grades Of rubber, each Of different
commercial value, the best quality be-
ing taken from the highest part, and
| the poorest from the bottom.
With their knives, or macheteS, the
natives slash the vines in several
places, and put broad leaves directly
underneath the wounds for the juice
to drop on, and which, being of a
strong, adhesive nature, none of it gets
lost. When the top part of the vine
is bled, calabashes, or jars, are placed
with their openings to the wounds, SO
that none Of it drops on the branches
of the tree, and so get lost; but it is
not often they trouble themselves
climbing, unless the vines happen to
be scarce in the vicinity.
The entire day they devote to cut
ting; next day they gather what was
cut the day previous, and so on. Each
evening, after collecting, they put
all the juice they have into several
iron pots, or earthen vessels Of native
manufacture, and boil it; at the same
time they can greatly improve the
lowest quality by adding little salt
and the more they boil the juice the
better it becomes. When sufficiently
boiled the water is poured off and the
juice is allowed to cool, when it is
fashioned according to the grade-ball
flake, mixed or tongue-and is ready
for the market. In this way about
twenty or thirty pounds day is gener.
ally collected. 1t is then taken to the
factory, land there exchanged for guns
cloth, rum, &c. When it is received
at the factory it is carefully marked
classed, weighed and put into cases fol
shipment. 1t contains so much water
that twenty per cent. is deducted from
the weight of each cask, as that is
about the amount of shrinkage on the
voyage. This is, however, a loss to the
native, as it is deducted from him
when selling.
This vine, from my personal observa'
ton, is to be found from Sierra Leone
in the north to Vunsembo in the south
but along the coast line it is rapidly be-
coming extinct, as the natives are sc
careless or rapacious that in many
cases they completely sever the vine
thus killing it, instead of simply bleed
ing it.