Dr. Bronson had no official letters from the Bolivian authorities, as he had not visited the capital of the country, or any of its important towns, but he was cordially received by the consul, and invited to remain until the return of the steamboat, which was expected to pass up the river the same day on its way to San Antonio. His family was away, and he had an abundance of room, and after repeated assurances of welcome the invitation was accepted.
The boatmen were retained for an excursion up the January, and the baggage of the party was carried to the rooms they were to occupy during their stay. The rest of the day was spent in the society of the consul, who told them many things of interest concerning the Madeira and its tributaries. The steamboat passed in the afternoon, making a brief stop at the landing, and it was arranged that she should return to take them away in a week or ten days at farthest.
BANANA IN BLOSSOM.
The consul's house was a large two-story building, and the upper floor commanded fine views of the two rivers; his reception-room on this floor was open on three sides, but could be closed by curtains whenever required. A fine breeze blew during the afternoon, and both Frank and Fred declared they had not, in months, found such an agreeable lounging-place. All the sleeping-rooms were provided with mosquito-nettings; mosquitoes are abundant and persistent throughout the year, and every precaution must be taken against them.
The next morning the party went up the January with their boat, and were absent three days. They visited a camp of rubber collectors, which was controlled by a Bolivian who had obtained a grant of land, with the exclusive right of gathering rubber thereon for a term of years. He had some forty or fifty men in his employ, all Indians from Bolivia. Frank learned something about the business which he had not ascertained in their previous visit to the rubber collectors, and we are permitted to copy it from his note-book.
"The whole rubber trade of the Amazon is run upon the credit system. The employer keeps his men constantly in debt, and as long as they are owing him for goods he can claim their work. They are engaged for a term of years, but in consequence of their debts are practically never released from their contract.
"Next, the employer is in debt to the small traders in the river towns, to whom he sells his rubber; he pays very dear for his goods, and gets a low price for the products of his enterprise. Then the small trader is in debt to the wholesale dealer at Para, and the wholesalers are in debt to London and New York, where the rubber goes for a market. Heavy profits are made in every transaction, and the result of it is that the Indian who collects the gum and prepares the crude rubber works for very low wages, and is paid in goods at very high prices. The annual exportation from Para is said to be twenty million pounds of rubber, worth from six to eight million dollars.