416 
(133 Ibs.— one pikul), being at the rate of one pikul per fathom of trunk. 
Both trees grow to the same dimensious, 24 to 42 feet in height, and 
1} to 3 feet in diameter at the base of trunk. The sago palm is not 
subject to any disease, but, if a deep cut is mudd at the base of the trank 
close to the earth, the pith i is attacked by large mag gots, which ecd 
eat their way into the centre of the tree, and in three or four 
destroy the whole trunk. Thisisa favourite way of payiig g offa grudge 
among the natives. The sago tree takes from five to seven to 
eerta een 2 to the nature of the soil. During the third year, the 
1 oots. 
they form a dense thicket around the mature trunks and give a great 
deal of trouble to the workers. Every year, each clump produces a 
large number of workable trunks. During the fifth year, the parent 
tree is ready to be cut down. In the meantime, the young slioots are 
3 
of cattle, and it would be difficult to reckon the number of logs that 
each clump may have produced in the space of 40 or 50 years. When 
the sago tive is allowed to ee Eit the pith begins to diminish, and, if 
1 
o 
trunk supplies the sago; de leaves and s are largely used b by 
natives for building purposes, the former for odit and the latter for 
vegetable, while the trunk, when split in two longitudinally and the pith 
scooped out, is used as a boat to transport the raw sago which has been 
extracted from it. Tha bark when taken off makes excellent fuel, and 
an enterprising Chinaman who emp ys an engine for rasping sago logs 
uses this as a substitute for fire-wo 
The sago trade between okii and Labuan is carried on by 
native schooners of about 40 tons, which ply regularly and in fair 
weather are able to make a trip every two days. 
The following are the figures recorded in the returns at Mempakul of 
the sago shipped to Labuan since January 1890:— 
€ |. Sago Flour. | Raw Sago. 
— = ~- } — — ————————— — angu — oe ———— ee 
| $ $ 
1890 - "- - - - - +H 23,483 . 72 10,350 , 32 
| 
1891  - - - - - | 24,826 . 67 18,560 . 20 
18929 - w R à = & "1 101,327.06 25,304.59 
1893  - - - - - | 119,092 . 70 25,034 . 24 
'The latter portion of the — is generally the busiest, as the 
assist in the transport of the raw material from streams which may harte 
become too sese during the d weather. 
