MANUFACTURE OF SAGO. 553 



about ten or fifteen years old it sends up an immense terminal spike of flowers, after 

 which it dies. 



For making sago the tree must be used just before it is going to flower. It is cut 

 down close to the ground, which, large as the tree is, costs no great labor, for the 

 woody shell is only half an inch thick ; the rest is all pith. The leaves and leaf- 

 stalks are cleared away, and a broad strip of bark taken off the upper side of the 

 trunk, laying bare the pithy matter, which is of a rusty color near the bottom, but 

 higher up of a pure white, about as hard as a mealy apple, with woody fibres running 

 through it, about a quarter of an inch apart. This pith is broken up into a coarse 

 powder by a heavy wooden club or pounder, having a piece of hard quartz imbedded 

 into the end. By means of this, strips of the pith are cut away, which fall down into 

 the cylinder formed by the tough bark, until the whole trunk is cleared out, leaving a 

 skin of not more than half an inch in thickness. This material is carried to the 

 washing machine, which answers the purpose of a grist-mill for preparing the flour. 

 This washing machine is composed wholly from the tree itself. The great sheathing 

 bases of the leaves make excellent troughs ; and their ribs, as thick as a man's arm, 

 and lighter and tougher than a bamboo, furnish the supporting props ; while the fibrous 

 covering of the leaf-stalks forms the strainer. Water is poured on the mass of pith, 

 which is kneaded and pressed against the strainer until the starch is all washed out, 

 when the fibrous refuse is thrown away. The water, charged with the starch, passes 

 into another deep trough, where the sediment is quickly deposited, the water running 

 off. This mass of starch is made up into packages of thirty pounds, covered with sago 

 leaves. This constitutes the " raw sago," and will keep for years. Boiled with water, 

 it forms a thick glutinous mass, which is eaten with salt, limes, or Chili peppers. 



More frequently it is used for making bread. The raw sago is broken up, dried in 

 the sun, and powdered into a coarse meal. The oven is a square clay pan, divided 

 into compartments six or eight inches square, and three-quarters of an inch thick. 

 This is heated over a clear fire of embers, filled with the flour, and covered with a 

 piece of sago bark. In five minutes the bread, or rather batch of cakes, is baked. 

 When hot they are very palatable with butter ; and the addition of a little sugar and 

 grated cocoa nut forms quite a delicacy. They are soft, and not unlike our " Johnny- 

 cakes" made of maize flour, but have a slight characteristic flavor which is wanting in 

 the prepared sago. When not wanted for immediate use, the cakes are dried in the 

 sun for several days ; they will then keep for years. They are hard, rough, and dry; 

 but the natives do not mind that, and it is a common sight to see children gnawing 

 away at them, as our children do at a crust of bread. Dipped in water and toasted, 

 they become almost as good as when fresh ; soaked and boiled, they make a good 

 pudding. We see no reason why these sago biscuit should not form a welcome 

 addition to ship-stores in tropical regions. 



A good-sized tree will afford 900 pounds of raw sago. This will make 600 pounds 

 of bread. Two cakes, weighing three to the pound, are as much as a man can well 

 eat at a meal ; five are considered a full day's allowance. One tree will therefore 

 supply a man with food for a whole year. Two men will easily finish a tree in five 

 days; so that a man may in ten days raise and make his flour for a year. If he 

 chooses to bake his year's supply of bread at once, another ten days is quite enough; 

 so that the labor of twenty days will give him food for a year. This is on the sup- 



