SAGO. 171 



cipally depend upon the plant for subsistence pro- 

 pagate it by suckers. But here the labour of culti- 

 vation almost ends ; and M. Humboldt has calcu- 

 lated that thirty- three pounds of wheat and ninety- 

 nine pounds of potatoes require the same space as 

 that in which four thousand pounds of bananas will 

 grow. But the industry of the European surrounds 

 him with a much greater amount of blessings than 

 the almost spontaneous bounty of Nature to the In- 

 dian who lives upon his patch of bananas. The same 

 reasoning applies to the bread-fruit ; for when the 

 produce of two or three of those trees will suffice for 

 a man's yearly supply, he is not likely to call forth 

 the faculties of his mind which wait upon a constant 

 course of assiduous labour. Those bodies of man- 

 kind are in the happiest state who are placed by 

 climate between the extremes of natural fruitfulness 

 and sterility. Where Nature offers spontaneous food 

 to large tribes, as in a few situations in tropical 

 countries, their condition is nearly as wretched, taken 

 under all its circumstances, as that of those poor 

 inhabitants of polar regions, to whom almost every- 

 thing appears to be denied by the ' All-giver,' but 

 who really obtain comforts by their persevering 

 labour, which the idle native of the finest soil almost 

 always wants. 



One of the substances of spontaneous growth^ 

 which is largely used as an article of food, is 



SAGO Sagus farinifera, and other species. 



The substance known in commerce under the 

 name of sago is a farinaceous pithy matter, extracted 

 from the trunk of a tree. 



This tree is a native of the south-east of Asia, 

 and of the islands of the Indian Ocean, where it 

 grows spontaneously, and is perfected without any 



