Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-01-30
Gathering India Rubber.

Having passed fully three years on
the southwest coast OF Africa, as trader
for an English firm, I will endeavor to
describe the manner in which India
rubber is procured in that country, as
India rubber formed the staple produce
of the district where was located.
The natives are in very rude, I'M
civilized condition. They have no cur
rency, and do all business by bartering
the native products for manufactured
stuffs. Their wealth consists chiefly ID
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, a
long sword-shaped knife called ma
chete, a number of calabashes or jars
to collect the juice of the rubber vine,
and little food that has been cured in
smoke, as they can find plenty of sus-
tenance in the bush without carrying it
about with them from place to place.
The vines are in some cases near to
the 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 mans arm, and grows to a
length of fully 200 feet. Its leaves are
glossy, like those of the South Ameri-
can rubber tree, and large fruit, much
liked by the natives, is gathered from it.
I have tasted it, and found it very pal
atable, being slightly acid. This vine
(what its scientific name is don't pre-
tend to know yields several grades of
rubber, each Of different commercial
value, the best quality being taken from
the highest part, and the poorest from
the bottom.
With their knives or machetes, the ma
tives slash the vine in several places,
and put broad leaves directly underneath
the wounds for the juice to drop on, and
which, being of 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 Ct it may drop
on the branches of the tres, 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 cutting 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 it is ready for the market. In
this way about twenty or thirty pounds
day is generally collected. It is then
taken to the factory, and there ex-
changed for guns, cloth, rum, etc. When
it is received at the factory it is carefully
marked, classed, weighed, and put into
casks for shipment. It contains so much
water that 20 per cent. is deducted
from the weight of each cask, as that is
about the amount of shrinkage on the
voyage. This is, however, loss to the
native, as it is deducted from him when
ro11iror