BOOK III. CHAP. VIII. 745 



The out:^varcl texture of the trunk of thefc trees is ufed for laths, and " 

 other purpofcs. The fpatha: are made into mats by the Negroes. The 

 leaf is compofcd of longitudinal filaments, or thread-like fibres, which, 

 being properly feparated, arc fpuu like hemp, and formed into twine' 

 and cordage. 



The tunicles are extremely thin, and may eafily be exfoliated and 

 dried; after being prepared in this manner, they may be wrote upon 

 with a metallic pencil or Jlyliis ; and will retain the charafters fo long 

 as the fubftance lafts, which may be as long as vellum, if care is taken 

 to keep it dry; for this property, it feems to refemble the papyrus of 

 the ancients. The beft cabbage is obtained from this tree when it is 

 young, and not above 15 or 16 feet in height. From the real fummit 

 of the ftem fpring two branches full of Imall flowers ; thefe are fol- 

 lowed by fmall round berries, about the fize of a hazel-nut, which are 

 devoured by the birds, who mute the flone or feed, by which means 

 there is a continual nurfery of thefe trees, which otherwife would foon 

 be extirpated ; for whenever they are cut down, no frefh fhoot arifes 

 again from the root ; and whenever robbed of their top or cabbage, they 

 ceafe from growing. The external coat of the trunk is impenetrable 

 to a mufquet ball, though it is fcarccly an inch thick. The Spaniards 

 are faid to have cafed their buildings in the country parts with this 

 covering, which made them defenfible againft: enemies, and equally 

 proof againft the affaults of earthquakes and hurricanes. 



Within this hard integument is a pithy, farinaceous fubftance, fimi- 

 lar to fome other of the palm kind. 



Dampier, fpeaking of the trees growing in the ifland Mindanao, one 

 of the Philippines, mentions a fpecies called by the natives the Iibby. 

 This tree is not unlike the cabbage, the bark and wood hard, and in- 

 clofing a white pith. They cut down the tree, and, fplitting it In the 

 middle, take out the pith, which they beat well in a mortar ; then 

 put it into a iieve made from the fame tree, and, pouring water upon it, 

 ftir it about, till the water carries the mealy part through into a 

 tronoh placed underneath. After it has ftood till it has fettled, they 

 pour oft the water, and, taking out the fcdiment, and drying it, bake 

 it into cakes; this meal they call /ago or fagu, which is exported to 

 other parts of the world, dried in linall grains like comfits. 



In Java it is called biilum^ and according to Linnaeus is made of the 

 ■pith of the cycas clrcinnalis. 



Vol. III. . 5 G In 



