Fritz ran to me, crying out, "I have found some India-rubber!"
"If that be true," said I, "you have made a most valuable discovery."
He thought I was laughing at him, for we had no drawing to rub out here.
I told him this gum might be turned to many useful purposes; among the
rest we might make excellent shoes of it. This interested him. How could
we accomplish this?
"The caoutchouc," said I, "is the milky sap which is obtained from
certain trees of the _Euphorbium_ kind, by incisions made in the bark.
It is collected in vessels, care being taken to agitate them, that the
liquid may not coagulate. In this state they cover little clay bottles
with successive layers of it, till it attains the required thickness. It
is then dried in smoke, which gives it the dark brown colour. Before it
is quite dry, it is ornamented by lines and flowers drawn with the
knife. Finally, they break the clay form, and extract it from the mouth;
and there remains the India-rubber bottle of commerce, soft and
flexible. Now, this is my plan for shoemaking; we will fill a stocking
with sand, cover it with repeated layers of the gum till it is of the
proper thickness; then empty out the sand, and, if I do not deceive
myself, we shall have perfect boots or shoes."
Comfortable in the hope of new boots, we advanced through an
interminable forest of various trees.
Pages:
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156