India-rubber, called, also, _caoutchouc_, is produced from several
different trees, all of them of the _ficus_, or fig species. The _ficus
elasticus_ is the tree from which it is chiefly obtained. This is a
native both of India and of South America; and its general appearance
may be seen in the cut below. When the bark is cut or broken, it gives
forth a milky liquid, which, being exposed to the air, produces the gum
elastic which is so much in use among us. It is now about a hundred
years since it was first introduced into Europe. For a long time it was
only used to erase the marks of lead-pencils. The natives of South
America had, however, long employed it, as we do now, for boots and
shoes. They also smear the inside of baskets with it, thus providing a
tough and tight lining. In the vicinity of Quito, they make it into a
kind of cloth. Its multiplied uses in the United States and Europe, are
familiar to every reader. In a volume lately published in New York,
entitled “Scenes and Adventures on the Banks of the Amazon,” is found
the following account of this singular and most useful tree.
[Illustration: THE INDIA-RUBBER TREE.]
“A number of blacks, bearing long poles on their shoulders, thickly
strung with India-rubber shoes, also attracted our attention. These are
for the most part manufactured in the interior, and are brought down the
river for sale by the natives. It has been estimated that at least two
hundred and fifty thousand pairs of shoes are annually exported from the
province, and the number is constantly increasing. A few words here
respecting the tree itself, and the manufacture of the shoes, may not be
out of place. The tree is quite peculiar in its appearance, and
sometimes reaches the hight of eighty and even a hundred feet. The trunk
is perfectly round, rather smooth, and protected by a bark of a light
color. The leaves grow in clusters of three together, are thin, and of
an ovate form, and are from ten to fifteen inches in length. The center
leaf of the cluster is always the longest. This remarkable tree bears a
curious fruit of the size of a peach, which, although not very
palatable, is eagerly sought after by different animals. It is separated
into three lobes, which contain each a small black nut. The trees are
tapped in the same manner that the New Englanders tap maple-trees; the
trunk having been perforated, a yellowish liquid, resembling cream,
flows out, which is caught in small clay cups fastened to the tree. When
these become full, their contents are emptied into large earthen jars,
in which the liquid is kept until desired for use. The operation of
making the shoes is as simple as it is interesting. Imagine yourself in
one of the seringa groves of Brazil. Around you are a number of
good-looking natives of low stature and olive complexions. One is
stirring, with a long wooden stick, the contents of a caldron, placed
over a pile of blazing embers. This is the liquid as it was taken from
the rubber tree. Into this a wooden ‘last,’ covered with clay, and
having a handle, is plunged. A coating of the liquid remains. Another
native then takes the ‘last,’ and holds it in the smoke arising from the
ignition of a species of palm fruit, for the purpose of causing the
glutinous substance to assume a dark color. The ‘last’ is then plunged
again into the caldron, and this process is repeated as in dipping
candles, until the coating is of the required thickness. You will
moreover notice a number of Indian girls engaged in making various
impressions, such as flowers, &c., upon the soft surface of the rubber,
by means of their thumb-nails, which are especially pared and cultivated
for that purpose. After this final operation, the shoes are placed in
the sun to harden, and large numbers of them may be seen laid out on
mats in exposed situations. The aboriginal name of the rubber is
_cahchu_, from which the formidable word of _caoutchouc_ is derived.”
[Illustration: THE OLD ROUND TOWER AT NEWPORT.]