"The little ant-eater is not more than about twenty-one inches in length, has a shorter and more natural looking head, and fine silky fur. It usually lives in trees." I was pleased to find my memory served me so well on this subject, as it interested my boy amazingly; and occupied us for a considerable time while we traveled onward. Arriving presently at a grove of tall trees, with very strong, broad, thick leaves, we paused to examine them; they bore a round, fig-like fruit, full of little seeds and of a sour, harsh taste. Fritz saw some gummy resin exuding from cracks in the bark, and it reminded him of the boyish delight afforded by collecting gum from cherry-trees at home, so that he must needs stop to scrape off as much as he could. He rejoined me presently, attempting to soften what he had collected in his hands; but finding it would not work like gum, he was about to fling it away, when he suddenly found that he could stretch it and that it sprang back to its original size. "Oh, father, only look! this gum is quite elastic! Can it possibly be india-rubber?" "What!" cried I; "let me see it! a valuable discovery that would be, indeed; and I do believe you are perfectly right!" "Why would it be so very valuable, father?" inquired Fritz. "I have only seen it used for rubbing out pencil marks." "India-rubber," I replied, "or, more properly, caoutchouc, is a milky, resinous juice which flows from certain trees in considerable quantities when the stem is purposely tapped. These trees are indigenous to the South American countries of Brazil, Guiana, and Cayenne. The natives, who first obtained it, used to form bottles by smearing earthen flasks with repeated coatings of the gum when just fresh from the trees, and when hardened and sufficiently thick, they broke the mold, shook out the fragments, and hung the bottles in the smoke, when they became firmer and of a dark color. While moist, the savages were in the habit of drawing rude figures and lines on the resin by way of ornament; these marks you may have observed, for the bottles obtained from the natives by the Spaniards and Portuguese have for years been brought to Europe and cut into portions to be sold for use in drawing. Caoutchouc can be put to many uses, and I am delighted to have it here, as we shall, I hope, be able to make it into different forms; first and foremost, I shall try to manufacture boots and shoes." Soon after making this discovery, we reached the cocoanut wood, and saw the bay extending before us, and the great promontory we called Cape Disappointment, which hitherto had always bounded our excursions. In passing through the wood, I remarked a smaller sort of palm, which, among its grand companions, I had not previously noticed. One of these had been broken by the wind, and I saw that the pith had a peculiar mealy appearance, and I felt convinced that this was the world-renowned sago-palm.