Gathering rubber in Brazil. A notch is cut in the bark of the tree and a small cup is fixed below, into which the sap slowly drips from three or four hours. The upper picture shows the way in which the sap is thickened. A fire is built upon the ground and the funnel-shaped chimney placed over it, through which the smoke rises. The wooden paddle is then dipped in the vessel of sap and help in the smoke. This changes the white sap to a thin layer of brown rubber. The dipping and smoking is repeated again and again, until a large lump of rubber is formed on the end of the paddle.
LESSON XLVIII.
1. Plains.—The valleys or plains of the great rivers are called by different names: Selvas, Llanos {lyah'-nuce) and Pampas.
2. The Selvas are the forest plains of the Amazon. Selva is a Spanish word that means wood or forest. These plains are covered with trees and shrubs and climbing vines, all growing so thickly together that monkeys can travel hundreds of miles on the tree tops without once coming down to the ground.
The only way of getting through the Selvas is to go by the water in canoes; and the vegetation is so dense, even down to the water's edge, that one may travel a whole day without finding room to land. The trees and shrubs "form a dense wall of verdure along the banks of the river".
A large number of the plants of South America seem to live on nothing but air. Hence, they are sometimes called air-plants. They cling, like moss, to the trunks and branches of trees. Many of them have flowers of curious shapes and exquisite colore. One that is pure white is shaped like a dove, another like a swan.
The Selvas of the Amazon. Notice the thick growth of trees and shrubs, the vines and air-plants hanging from the branches.
3. The Llanos, or plains of the Orinoco, are dotted with clumps of trees. When the river overflows them they look like a vast sea. After the flood subsides, a luxuriant crop of grass and flowers springs up, and vast herds of cattle find rich pasturage.
In the dry season these plains are parched, and the cattle wander for pasture to the hills.
4. The Pampas are the plains of the La Plata. They are covered with tall grass in the wet season, and in the dry season are parched like a desert. Countless herds of wild cattle feed upon these plains. Vast numbers of these cattle are slaughtered yearly. The meat and hides are exported.
5. Forests.—The forests of South America contain some of the most wonderful and useful trees and plants in the world.
The palm trees supply the Indian with almost everything that he needs.
A grove of palm trees.
