The Sago Palm. 383 



they do not shrink, require no paint or varnish, and are not a 

 quarter the expense. When carefully split and shaved smooth, 

 they ai'e formed into light boards, with pegs of the bark it- 

 self, and are the foundation of the leaf-covered boxes of Go- 

 ram, AU the insect-boxes I used in the Moluccas were thus 

 made at Amboyna ; and when covered with stout paper in- 

 side and out, are strong, light, and secure the insect-pins re- 

 markably well. The leaflets of the sago folded and tied side 

 by side on the smaller midribs form the " atap " or thatch in 

 universal use, while the product of the trunk is the staple food 

 of some hundred thousands of men. 



When sago is to be made, a full-grown tree is selected just 

 before it is going to flower. It is cut down close to the 

 ground, the leaves and leaf-stalks cleared away, and a broad 

 strip of the bark taken off the upper side of the trunk. This 

 exposes the pithy matter, which is of a rusty color near the 

 bottom of the tree, but higher up pure white, about as hard 

 as a dry apple, but with woody fibres running through it 

 about a quarter of an inch apart. This pith is cut or broken 

 down into a coarse powder by means of a tool constructed for 

 the purpose — a club of hard and heavy wood, having a piece 



SAGO CLUB. 



of sharp quartz rock firmly embedded into its blunt end and 

 projecting about half an inch. By successive blows of this, 

 narrow strips of the pith are cut away, and fall down into the 

 cylinder formed by the bark. Proceeding steadily on, the 

 whole trunk is cleared out, leaving a skin not more than half 

 an inch in thickness. This material is cai*ried away (in bask- 

 ets made of the sheathing bases of the leaves) to the nearest 

 water, where a washing-machine is put up, which is composed 

 almost entirely of the sago-tree itself. The large sheathing 

 bases of the leaves form the troughs, and the fibrous covering 

 from the leaf-stalks of the young cocoa-nut the strainer. "Wa- 

 ter is poured on the mass of pith, which is kneaded and press- 

 ed against the strainer till the starch is all dissolved and has 



