From the way these primitive folk set about getting a supply of the newly discovered product, we soon realize that they have more intelligence than we had previously given the savage credit for possessing; for when the discoverer points out to his companions a specimen of the tree which yields the desired gum, a member of the party proceeds to carry out an experiment that would seem to be of both a practical and imaginative nature. A hole is scratched in the ground at the base of the tree, and a few inches above, in a straight line with this, several notches are hacked in the trunk. The sap, which immediately begins to ooze out, trickles down into the hollow beneath. You see at once that a more wholesale method of collecting has been devised than that of catching driblets of the sap by hand. But in the plan which is now being tried there lurks still more intelligence, inspiration, reason, instinct, or whatever you like to call it. For at the conclave in the camp, general opinion favoured the idea that heat was the agent which transformed the liquid into a solid. And if the warmth of a man’s hand could bring about such a remarkable change, surely, it is argued, the heat of the sun would more readily have the same effect. So the sap is now to be left in the collecting hole, where it will come under the influence of baking hot tropical earth and thirsty tropical air. Sap is still issuing from the wounded trunk when the party go off in search of other specimens of the tree. After a few hours, we find that they have been steering a course which brings them back to the first tree on which they operated. No wonder they are all so pleased when they arrive at this goal, for they can see at a glance that their experiment has proved successful. True, the sap has now ceased to flow, but it is more than likely that some fresh wounds would produce a further supply. And sufficient for the moment is the joy of finding in the hole beneath the tree a big lump of solid something, like the material of the toy which their guide made yesterday. It is scooped out of its semicircular mould, is found to be still soft enough to work, and is quickly rounded by hand into the form of a ball. * * * * *