CRAP. XIV. J MAKING SAGO. 379 



white, about as liai^ as a dry apple, but witli woody fibres 

 nmuiiig tlirough it about a quarter of an inch apart. This 

 pith is cut or broken dowTi into a coarse powder by means 

 of a tool constructed for the purpose— a club of hard aod 

 hea\y wood, having a piece of sharp quartz rock firmly 

 imbeddefJ into its blunt end, and projecthig about half an 

 inck Ry successive blows of this, narrow strips of the 

 pith are cnt away, and fall down into tlie cylmder fonned 

 by the bark. Proceedin;.^ steadily on, the whole trunk is 

 cleared out, leaving a skin not more than half an inch in 

 thickness. This material is earned away (in baskets made 

 of the sheathing bases of the leaves) to the nearest water, 

 where a wasbijic-mnnliine ]^ut wbicli is rnTf> r-n>:, d 



8A00 Witwtiso, 



almost entirely of the sago tree itself. The large sheathing 

 bases of the leaves form the troughs, and the fibrous cover- 

 ing from the leaf-stalks of the young cocoa-nut the strainer. 

 "Water is ponred on the mass of pith, which is kneaded and 

 pressed against the strainer till the starch is all dissolved 

 and has passed through, when the fibrous refuse is thrown 

 aii^ay, and a firesh basketful put in its place. The watei 



