If ever there should be a great demand for large supplies of gum-elastic,
commonly called india-rubber, it may be procured in abundance far away in
the wilds of Demerara and Essequibo.
Some years ago, when I was in the Macoushi country, there was a capital
trick played upon me about india-rubber. It is, almost too good to be left
out of these wanderings, and it shows that the wild and uneducated Indian
is not without abilities. Weary and sick and feeble through loss of blood,
I arrived at some Indian huts which were about two hours distant from the
place where the gum-elastic trees grew. After a day and a night's rest I
went to them, and with my own hands made a fine ball of pure india-rubber;
it hardened immediately as it became exposed to the air, and its elasticity
was almost incredible.
While procuring it, exposure to the rain, which fell in torrents, brought
on a return of inflammation in the stomach, and I was obliged to have
recourse again to the lancet, and to use it with an unsparing hand. I
wanted another ball, but was not in a state the next morning to proceed to
the trees.
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