in the afternoon, the fluid thus
obtained was collected in a large clay vessel, each incision yielding
about a gill of sap per day. This process was repeated for several days
in succession, until the tree had been thoroughly drained. This sap was
simply a species of liquid gum, which, though clear and colorless in its
native state, had the property of becoming hard and tough when exposed
to the sun or artificial heat. It was used by the natives for the
manufacture of a few rude and simple articles, by a process similar to
that by which the old-fashioned "tallow-dip" candles were made. It was
poured over a pattern of clay or a wooden mold or last covered with
clay, and successive coatings were applied as fast as the former ones
dried, until the article had attained the desired thickness, the whole
taking the shape of the mold over which the gum was poured. As the
layers were applied, their drying was hastened by exposure to the heat
and smoke of a fire, the latter giving to the gum a dark-black hue.
Dried without exposure to the smoke, or by the sun alone, the gum became
white within and yellowish-brown without. The drying process required
several days, and during its progress the gum was ornamented with
characters or lines made with a stick. When it was completed, the clay
mold was broken to pieces and shaken out of the opening. The natives in
this manner made a species of rough, clumsy shoe, and an equally rough
bottle. In some parts of South America, the natives make it a rule to
present their guests with one of these bottles, furnished with a hollow
stern, which serves as a syringe for squirting water into the mouth in
order to cleanse it after eating. The articles thus made were liable to
become stiff and unmanageable in cold weather, and soft and sticky in
warm. The French astronomers, upon their return to their own country,
were quick to call attention to this remarkable gum, which was afterward
discovered in Cayenne by Trismau, in 1751. At present it is found in
large quantities in various parts of South America, but the chief
supplies used in commerce are produced in the province of Para, which
lies south of the equator, in Brazil. It is also grown largely in the
East Indies, vast and inexhaustible forests of the trees which yield it
being found in Assam, beyond the Ganges, although the quality can not
compare with that of the South American article.

This substance, variously known as cachuchu, caoutchouc, gum e