150 THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



In every zone we find nations in a low degree of civilisation 

 living almost exclusively upon a single animal or plant. The 

 Laplander has his reindeer, the Esquimaux his seal, the Sandwich 

 Islander his taro-root ; and thus also we find the natives of a great 

 part of the Indian Archipelago depending for their subsistence 

 upon the pith of the Sago palm (Sagus fariniferus). This 

 tree, which is of such great importance to the indolent Malay, 

 as it almost entirely relieves him of the necessity of labour, grows 

 at first very slowly, and is covered with thorns. As soon, how- 

 ever, as the stem is once formed, it shoots upwards with such 

 rapidity that it speedily attains its full height of ten yards, 

 with a girth of five or six feet, losing in this stage its thorny 

 accompaniments. The crown is larger and thicker than that of 

 the cocoa-nut tree; the efflorescence colossal, forming an im- 

 mense bunch, the branches of which spread out like the arms 

 of a gigantic candelabrum. The tree must, however, be felled 

 before the fruit begins to form, as otherwise the farina would 

 be exhausted, which man destines for his food. When the 

 trunk has been cut and split into convenient pieces, the pith 

 is scooped out, kneaded with water, and strained, to separate 

 the meal from the fibres. One tree will produce from two to 

 four hundredweight of flour, which is mostly consumed on the 

 spot. The Sago palm serves to feed several millions of men, 

 and a great quantity of its produce is exported to Europe. 



The Sago palm forms large forests, particularly on swampy 

 ground in Borneo and Sumatra, in the Moluccas and New 

 Gruinea. Mushrooms of an excellent flavour frequently cover 

 the mouldering trunks, and in the pith the fat grubs of the 

 Cossiis saguarius, a large lamellicorn beetle, are found, 

 which the natives consider a great delicacy when roasted. 



The Gomuti {Gorautus vulgaris)^ which almost rivals the 

 cocoa by the multiplicity of its uses, is likewise a native of the 

 Indian Archipelago. On seeing its rougli and swarthy rind, 

 and the dull dark-green colour of its fronds, the stranger 

 wonders how the unsightly tree is allowed to grow, but when he 

 has tasted its delicious wine he is astonished not to see it cul- 

 tivated in greater numbers. Although the outer covering of 

 the fruits has venomous qualities, and is used by the Malays 

 to poison springs, the nuts have a delicate flavour, and the 

 wounded spathe yields an excellent toddy, which, like that of 



