50 BRITISH BORNEO. 
contain a mass of starchy pith, kept together by filaments of 
woody fibre, and when this is worked out by means of bambu 
hatchets nothing but a thin rind, the outer bark, is left. To 
separate the starch from the woody fibre, the pith is placed 
on a mat in a frame work over a trough by the river side; the 
sago washer then mounts up and, pouring fresh water over the 
pith, commences vigorously dancing about on it with his bare 
feet, the result being that the starch becomes dissolved in the 
water and runs off with it into the trough below, while the 
woody fibre remains on the mat and is thrown away, or, if the 
washer is not a Mahomedan, used for fatening pigs. The 
starch thus obtained is not yet quite pure, and under the name 
of Jamantah is sold to Chinese and undergoes a further 
process of washing, this time by hand, in large, solid, wooden 
troughs and tubs. When sufficiently purified, it is sun-dried 
and, asa fine white flour, is packed in gunny bags for the 
Singapore market. At Singapore, some of this flour—a very 
small proportion—is converted into the pearl sago of the 
shops, but the greater portion is sent on direct to Europe, 
where it is used for sizing cloth, in the manufacture of beer, 
for confectionery, &c. 
It will be seen that the sago palm thus affords food and 
also employment to a considerable number of both natives 
and Chinese and, requiring little or no trouble in cultivation, 
it is a perfect gift of the gods to the natives in the districts 
where it occurs. It is a curious fact that, though abounding 
in Sarawak, in the districts near Brunai and in the southern 
parts of British North Borneo on the West Coast, it seems to 
stop short suddenly at the Putatan River, near Gaya Bay, and 
is not found indigenous in the North nor on the North-East. 
Some time ago I sent a quantity of young shoots to a Chief 
living on the Labuk River, near Sandakan, on the East Coast, 
but have not yet heard whether they have proved a success. 
A nasty sour smell is inseparable from a sago factory, but 
the health of the coolies, who live in the factory, does not 
appear to be affected by it. | 
The Brunais and natives of sago districts consume a consi- 
derable quantity of sago flour, which is boiled into a thick, 
