168 LIFE OF A TREE. 
during famines. The pith of old palm-trees is 
often so rich in a variety of starch, well known 
to all under the title of sago, that the inhabi- 
tants of the countries where it grows fear little 
the effects of a famine of other produce, if they 
can only cut down enough trees; for these 
supply them abundantly with good, cheap, and 
nourishing food. ‘The finest sago is prepared 
from palm-trees forming immense forests on nearly 
all the Moluccas, and so rich in sago, that each 
tree is reckoned to furnish from six hundred 
to eight hundred pounds of this useful article; 
other palm-trees, after yielding an enormous 
amount of sugar from their sap, are cut down 
when no more will run out, and, by proper 
means being employed, as much as from a hun- 
dred and fifty to two hundred pounds of sago 
may be obtained from the trunk. 
Here let us close our chapter on the history of 
the Adult Tree. 
