92 SAGO AND OTHER PALMS—CALAMUS. 
and one on the Khasya Hills, at elevations of from 5000 to 
8000 feet ; while C. Ritchiana is found in the Khybur Pass, and 
probably all along the mountainous range from Affghanistan 
to Sindh. But it is in far southern latitudes and in a different 
climate that the Cocoa- and the Betle-nut Palms are objects of 
extensive culture ; as well as the Sago Palms, of which the Ejoo 
or Gomuto of the Malays is one (the Arenga saccharifera of 
botanists), abounding in sap, which can be used as palm wine or 
converted into sugar; yielding at all times strong and durable 
fibre. The older trees when cut down yield sago, as do Sagus 
Rumphii aud S. levis, especially abundant in and near Sumatra. 
The latter is remarkable among Palms for throwing up young 
plants around it in the same manner as the Plantain. Both 
kinds of Sago tree are strongly recommended for cultivation— 
the Arenga on low coasts near the sea, but the species of 
Sagus even on the edges of the marshes which abound in such 
situations. 
It is no doubt to some one of these Sago trees that Sir John 
Maundeville alludes, when he says: “In that land grow trees 
that bear meal, of which men make bread, white and of good 
savour; and it seemeth as it were of wheat, but it is not quite 
of such savour. And there are other trees that bear good and 
sweet honey; and others that bear poison.—And if you like to 
hear how the meal comes out of the trees, men hew the trees 
with an hatchet, all about the foot, till the bark be separated 
in many parts; and then comes out a thick: liquor, which they 
receive in vessels, and dry it in the sun, and then carry it to a 
mill to grind, and it becomes fair and white meal; and the 
honey and the wine, and the poison, are drawn out of other 
trees in the same manner, and put in vessels to keep.” (‘The 
Book of Sir J, Maundeville,’ chap. xviii.) But we have only to 
notice such Palms as are useful for their fibres. 
The species of Caramus, or those yielding the different kinds 
of Cane, have little of the appearance of Palms, as they are 
usually remarkable for their weak and trailing stems, which 
often extend to a great length, and ascend the loftiest trees. 
It is these long stems, which, when divested of their sheathing 
leaves, form the canes of commerce—some so much admired 
as sticks; others for their flexibility, conjoined with tenacity. 
