1-6 HORTUS JAMAICENSIS. caebag* 



cs]\eAhuli(m, and, ncGordinjr to Linnspiis, is made of the pith of the n/cas eircinalis. 



In the Moluccas the tree i.s called laudon, the pith of whuh funiishes them with this 

 Fott meal for firer.d. as the leaves serve them for the covering of their houses ; and tlie 

 !arj;er veins for rafters, as the lesser make good cordaj^e ; while tliese leaves are ycqng, 

 they are coveied with a kind of woolly substance, which affords materials for stuffs. 

 They resemhle the cocoa trees. 



From these descriptions there is reason to believe that the sago tree is of the palm 

 kind, as it bears aifinitv to those of the West Indies in ratjst respects. The ingenious 

 Mr. Robinson, whom I have bei'ore mentioned, was of this opinion, and resolved to 

 make some experiments upon this grouiiil. He took the pith of the mountain cabbage, 

 caused it to be pounded, and the mealy jJart pa'^sed with water through a coarse cloth 

 laid in a sieve. The experiment succeeded to his wish ; he obtained a fine white meal 

 ill large quantity, which, in the judgment of many persons who tasted it, surpassed ia 

 goodness what was imported. It was in the form of an impalpable powder, and in this 

 state boiled to a thickness much sooner than the common sago. That hich comes 

 from the Kast Indies is probably grannlateil by means of some gum intermixed with it ; 

 and the art of bringing it into a granulated form is all that remains for perfecting tiie 

 Jamaica manufacture ; for Mr. Robinson doubted, whether in powder it might keep so 

 long z^m tlie granulated form, but tiiere is no certainty that it would not. Long, p. 744. 



The following account of the method of procuring sago from the pith of the moun- 

 tain cabbage, alluded to bv Mr. Long, is from tiie manu^crlpt of Mr. Robin.son : 



" On the 7ll) ofFobruarv, 176:?, I was st an estate of Matthew Wallen, Esq. called 

 Chisvvick, in the parish of St. Thomas in the East, when I went down into tlje morass 

 and ordered a mountain cabb-ige to be cut down, which seemed about twenty-five ieet 

 in length, and very thick. J found the pith of this tree very hght and spongy, inter- 

 mixed with many longitudinal ligneous fibres. On tasting, it appeared mucilaginoufs, 

 with some slight piquancy, not disagreeable. The tree being cut into i\inks, which 

 were split an \ the pith taken out, agreeable to Dampier's method, some of it was well 

 beaten in a woorjeii mortar, which being put into an ohl' oznabnrg towel, held over a 

 pail, I poured some water over it, and, being well stirred about, to mi.v it with the 

 pith, soon felt pulpy and soft. 1 then strained it with the assistance of another person, 

 by twisting the cloth hard with our hands. After this we continued beating and strain- 

 ing the pith till we had got a large puiich bowl full of the liquor, which was set by to 

 settle till next morning. This liquor tasted much like new corn-water, for it was sweet, 

 and'thickened like light pap, but had a rawness in it. In the morning I poured off the 

 water, which still retainefl its sweetness, but somewhat thinner in its consistence. In 

 the bottom of the bowl I found a small quantity of an impalpable ash-coloured farina 

 deposited; this I poured into two or three soup plates, and placed tliem in the 

 sun for evaporation ; which completed, I obtained half a pound of a fine impalpable 

 ash-coloured farina or meal ; a little of which being boiled, presently came to the con- 

 sistence of pap or sago, with an agreeable taste. A lew days alter I went to see my 

 much esteemed friend, .lasper Hall, Esq. who ordered another cabbage-tree to be cut 

 down. The negro who felled it, after cutting it into junks and stripping the cortical 

 part off, brought the pith home ; which was white and fair like the last, but ponderous 

 and sappy, an 1 it appeared, bv imany circumstances, to come from a much smaller and 

 younger tree. On seeing it, t concluded we should obtain a much greater quantity of 

 cajfo dian fioai the lat ; but ia tliis I was mistaken. Here we had the advantage of a 



marble 



