cr own readers

THE RUBBER-TREES OF THE AMAZON. 211
and the natives come to collect th e contents of th e
cups in calabash j ugs. A gill or so is the common
yield from each tree, and a single gatherer may
at tend to a hundred and twenty trees or more, wading
through these dark marshes, and paying dearly
for his profit in fever and weak ness.
6. A day's ga thering will be a calabash of white
liquid, in app earance precisely lik e milk. If left in
thi s condition, it coagulates after a while, and forms
a whi tish gum. To mak e th e black rubber of commerce,
th e milk must go through a peculiar process of
manufacture. Over a smouldering fire is placed a
clay chimney, like a wide-mouth ed, bottomless jug ;
through this chimney th e thick smoke rises in a
constant stream from th e fire beneath. Now th e
rubber-gatherer takes a mould lik e a round -bladed
paddle, dips it in the milk , and holds it over the
smok e until th e liquid coagulates.
7. Th en anoth er coat is add ed ; but now, as the
wood is heated, the milk coagulates faster, It may
take th e gatherings of two or three days to cover the
mould thickly enough. Th e rubber is still dull white;
but in a short time it turns brown, and finally almost
black. Th e mass is th en cut from th e paddle and
sold to traders in the village. Bottles are sometimes
made by coating with rubber a clay mould, which
can be broken up and removed.
8. During the wet months, from February until
June or July, th e ground is und er water, and the
huts of the natives are wholly deserted. The gum
is then weak, and of comparatively little value. Besides,
th e trees need this period of rest to make up
for the constant drain in summer.