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Borneo, have nearly exterminated this noble tree; but it still 
abounds to the northward, and is said to cover the Natunas and 
Sooloo Islands. From the former group the people of Sarawak 
derive their supply, giving in return the rice which the natives 
of the Natunas require, for they do not raise rice on those islands. 
About fifty boats, carrying from six to twenty tons each, bring 
annually to Sarawak, nuts, oil, and sugar, the productions of 
this tree. The sugar is coarse, resembling molasses, and is made 
by boiling the sap of the flower-stem. 
The Sago-Palm (Metroaylon) attains great perfection, and 
large quantities of the rough sago are sent from the west 
coast to Sincapore. The Sago of commerce is the heart of the 
plant. In the parts where it abounds it forms the chief food of 
the inhabitants, who always, however, prefer rice when they can 
procure it. The tree grows in marshy spots and rarely exceeds 
thirty feet in height. The time for collecting the sago is just 
before the tree begins to show its large, spreading, terminal 
flower-spike, which it generally does at seven or eight years old. 
While young, the stem is admirably protected by its long and 
stout spines from the wild hogs, which would otherwise destroy 
it. As it grows and the trunk hardens, the spines drop off, and 
the central farina is enclosed in the outer wood. When the 
flower and fruit are allowed to perfect themselves, which is in 
two years from the first appearance of inflorescence, the pith of 
the centre is found dried up, the leaves have fallen, and the 
plant perishes. The Sago-Palm is seldom propagated from the 
seed, which is generally unproductive; but it may be raised 
in any quantity by offsets, which are freely produced. Among 
the Dyaks who grow rice, Sago is little used for food, except m 
times of scarcity. The whole of the Sago exported from Borneo 
is in a crude state, and manufactories are established at Sinca- 
pore and Batavia for its preparation and refinement ; where 
the rough article, an uninviting substance both to eye and smell, 
undergoes a wonderful change, and emerges 1 the form of the 
Pearl Sago of commerce. 
The Arenga saccharifera, which most resembles the Sago- 
Palm in general aspect, affords the best Toddy in Borneo. It 
is extracted by cutting off the large lateral branches of fruit. 
When these are about half-grown, they are severed close to the 
division of the peduncle, and Bamboos being suspended below, 
a gallon of juice will flow daily for two months from a good tree 
with two incisions ; if care be taken to expose a fresh surface on 
the severed part, by taking off a fresh slice every morning. 
The Toddy is emptied from the bamboo twice a day: when 
