No source of rubber comparable to the Hevea tree has been found in any other part of the world, although most of the world's rubber now comes from a variety of Hevea which is much more productive than the native wild trees of the Amazon . .
Rubber was not a product of major importance until two things happened. The first was the discovery of the vulcanizing process in 1839 by Charles Goodyear "a process which makes it possible to keep rubber from becoming sticky in hot weather or brittle in cold weather . The second was the manufacture of various mechanical and electrical devices in which rubber is an essential element, such as automobile tires and electrical insulation. In 1827 Belem exported 69,174 pounds of rubber; in 1853 the exports jumped suddenly to 5,214,560 pounds. .
Here was a situation characteristically Brazilian. A new world market of unlimited possibilities suddenly makes its appearance; Brazil finds itself in possession of a monopoly of the raw material needed to supply this market; the chief factor limiting the increase of production is the scarcity of labor. The immediate result "a frantic rush to the rubber forests and a mad scramble to share in this new source of speculative wealth. Land was purchased in Belem or Manaus without any preliminary survey, much as one would draw a hand in a poker game. Later, the purchaser, who was in most cases an already rich landowner, would find out whether he was wealthy beyond his dreams or had completely last the purchase price "all depending on the number of rubber trees that could be found in his forest. Who in that region and in that atmosphere of speculative profit could have thought of undertaking the hard work of clearing the forest, preparing the land, planting young rubber trees, and caring for them during their period of early growth. .
The chief problem was finding laborers to do the work. The story of the recruiting of the rubber gatherers is not a pretty one "especially in the eastern parts of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia, where the arm of the law could scarcely reach across the Andes.
