190 VOYAGE FROM INDIA TO SIAM AND MALACCA. 



had already ripe fruits, which however are quite useless. The 

 leaves of the young trees resemble those of the coco tree very 

 much, but at the first glance one sees that they are much longer. 

 The sheath at the principal stalk of the leaf is only a thin leath- 

 ery skin, and there is not the same kind of fibre as in those of 

 the coco tree ; the stalk is not so thick in proportion either. 

 Moreover, this stalk is concave on the lower side, smooth and 

 shiny, the back is concave, and has generally a brown stripe 

 running down its whole length. 



The divided leaves also resemble those of the coco tree, but 

 about a foot or more from their end there grow some prickles on 

 the nerve of the leaf, which are turned back. The nerve itself 

 ends in a three-cornered sharp point. Their colour is dark 

 green. The stem is twice as thick as that of the coco tree and 

 nearly as tall. 



\_Then follows a minute description of the tree which is unneces- 

 sary to insert.'] 



Such a tree is said to reach its perfection in ten years time, 

 when it is planted in suitable soil, that is to say damp and rich 

 soil. When the branches that bear the blossoms and fruits have 

 come forth the tree is cut down and from its mealy marrow the 

 sago is made. A good tree yields sometimes five to five and a half 

 piculs of sago; this however must be a rare case, because in most 

 of the gardens which I visited they told me that those trees would 

 only yield three or four piculs, and also that the trees were 

 twenty years old. Each tree only blossoms once and then dies, but 

 it leaves many young shoots from the root, which can be trans- 

 planted; they however seldom grow well, but most of them die. 

 One does not deem sago to be as wholesome in these countries 

 as it is considered abroad. 



The Governor von Schillingen, who for several years had 

 been in Amboina, assured me that only utter need forced the poor 

 living there to eat sago. "S^Tioever was rich enough to buy rice, 

 which must be imported as it does not grow- there, would never 

 be induced to touch sago ; he also said that the health of those 

 who are obliged always to eat sago is not very strong. 



The variety which I saw in Malacca was the fourth variety 

 of Mr. Rumph, in his Herb. Amboin (page 76, No 4). It is the 

 kind from which much of the exported sago is taken in Jakor.* 



* (?) Johore» 



