In the nineteenth century, the British and Indian Governments were keen to explore the commercial, medicinal and scientific possibilities of the exchange of botanical specimens between British India and other parts of the British Empire and beyond.
In 1877, the botanist Robert Cross submitted a report to the British Government on his expedition to Brazil to collect plants yielding the Brazilian India-rubber of commerce, with a view to their possible cultivation in India. A copy of his report is in the India Office Records at the British Library, reference IOR/L/E/5/70 no 50.
He begins his detailed account of his proceedings by describing the Brazilian city of Para and its colourful streets and citizens. Of the people he says: “The great bulk of the citizens go about more ostentatiously dressed than the people of London, the attire considered essential being fine black coat and hat, with snow white ironed vest and trousers, and fancy French boots. … Coloured females and slaves may be seen stepping into carriages perfectly loaded with large necklaces and glittering ornaments, and even the families of foreign residents are frequently dressed in the most excessive and extraordinary manner.”
His report details the method adopted for tapping the Para rubber trees, collecting the milk, and preparing the rubber, and he gives his opinion on the sites most suitable in India for the planting of the tree. He suggested that the Malay Peninsula, Burma, Ceylon, and the southern part of India would be most suitable: “The flat, low lying, moist tracts, lands subject to inundation, shallow lagoons, water holes, and all descriptions of mud accumulations, miry swamps, and banks of sluggish streams and rivers, will be found best adapted. The tree will also grow perfectly in deep humid land, fitted for cane or coffee planting”.
On leaving Para, Cross visited the Brazilian Province of Ceara in order to examine the rubber trees there, and determine whether they were different to those found in Para, and the best conditions for cultivating them.
In his report he also gives some observations on the Central American rubber trees found in Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico. Cross had collected specimens of this tree from the interior of the Isthmus of Panama in 1875, and he comments that there was a good collection of plants at Kew, and expresses surprise that more had not been sent to India. He believed many districts south of Bombay possessed all the climatic conditions necessary for the successful cultivation of Central American rubber.
Along with the Para rubber tree, Cross was interested in collecting specimens of Balsam trees, which were abundant in the forests of the Amazon valley. The Province of Para contained trees which produced the finest type of copaiba, known to collectors as white copaiba, which was sent in large quantities for the French market. Cross was able to arrange with a copaiba collector to take him into the forest in search of Balsam trees, and he describes in his report the difficulties he encountered, including large black ants whose bite was as painful as a wasp’s sting! Cross was successful in finding balsam trees and was able to collect some of its seeds. He was also able to see the method of tapping the trees, which he recorded in his report.
Along with the Para rubber tree, Cross was interested in collecting specimens of Balsam trees, which were abundant in the forests of the Amazon valley. The Province of Para contained trees which produced the finest type of copaiba, known to collectors as white copaiba, which was sent in large quantities for the French market. Cross was able to arrange with a copaiba collector to take him into the forest in search of Balsam trees, and he describes in his report the difficulties he encountered, including large black ants whose bite was as painful as a wasp’s sting! Cross was successful in finding balsam trees and was able to collect some of its seeds. He was also able to see the method of tapping the trees, which he recorded in his report.
Sources:
Report on the investigation and collection of plants and seeds of the India-rubber trees of Para and Ceara and Balsam of Copaiba by Robert Cross, dated 29th March 1877, British Library reference: IOR/L/E/5/70 no 50
http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=IOR/L/E/5/70_no_50