The Rubber Plant.
In the African forests the caoutchouc or rubber-bearing plant grows to a great height, often exceeding 100 feet. It is commonly about six inches in diameter at its base, and shoots upward to the light through a dense mass of tropical growth until, failing to find further support, it falls upon the branches of the tallest trees, and spreads itself over them. There are numerous other plants of the same genus which closely resemble it, but their sap lacks the qualities of true rubber. For several years past the State has experimented with these plants, and has sent specimens of them to the authorities at the Botanical Gardens at Brussels, Kew, Berlin, and Paris, for investigation. The ever-increasing demand for rubber for use in the industries stimulates the inquiry as to whether or not it is possible to so treat what is now regarded as “false rubber” that it shall serve all the purposes of “true rubber.”
Amongst the true rubber lianas in which the Congo Basin abounds are the following: Ficus altissima, ficus Eetveldeana, ficus elastica, ficus nekbuda, ficus religiosa, manihot glaziovii (French name, ceara), clitandra Arnoldiana (native name, mondongo), funtumia elastica (French name, Ireh), landolphia gentillii, and the landolphia owariensis (native name, matofe mengo).
Constant experiments are being made, privately and by the State, in the production of copal, sugar, tobacco, and cotton, with results that justify the confident expectation that at no distant date they will be profitably exported. The cultivation of the vine, and of numerous fruits and grasses, receives also much attention, and is full of promise.
Making Baskets for Transportation of Rubber (Kassai).
Elephants and Ivory.
African ivory is everywhere esteemed for its superiority in colour and hardness to the Indian variety. The large herds of elephants inhabiting the forests of the Congo State provide, at present, an enormous supply; but the Government wisely takes into account the possibility of its exhaustion, and has prohibited the shooting of elephants. Wise laws also regulate the cutting and export of lumber; and the folly of denuding vast regions of trees, such as we have been guilty of in America, will not be repeated on the Congo.
Civilising Influences.
In every way the State has exerted its utmost influence to effect the moral improvement of the native races, and its efforts have met with much success. Their liberty and property are very carefully guarded. Polygamy is not only discountenanced, it is penalised, no polygamist being eligible for employment, whether military or civil, by the State. Christian marriages between natives, which ten years ago numbered eighty-four, now take place by thousands every year.