SAGO. 
303 
thin coarse cloth is fastened by its four corners over each tub 
when used, and hangs loosely into it. The moist sago being 
poured into this strainer, and there broken and bruized by 
the hand, is agitated until all its fine particles pass through 
the cloth and descend to the bottom of the tub, while the 
fragments of leaf, fibre and other impurities which remain in 
the cloth, are shaken into a round mass, which is taken up in 
a bowel and thrown aside. The rapidity and deftness with 
which this and all the other manipulations are performed are 
very striking. The sago is next stirred about with an oar 
for about an hour, after which it is left to stand for about 
12 hours, when tiie water is ladled out, and the sago, which 
fills about half the tub, is removed to undergo the last purify¬ 
ing process which precedes the granulation. This is perform¬ 
ed in a mode at once simple and ingenious, the same principle 
being availed of which serves the gold and tin'miners of the 
Archipelago to clean the ore; the more precious matter hap¬ 
pening, in all three cases, to be heavier than that with which 
it is mixed, and being thus readily separable by thefaction of 
running water. 
Two tubs are placed at a distance of ten or twelve feet 
from each other, and connected by two troughs raised by a 
frame work above them. These troughs are about 10 inches 
deep, 14 inches broad at the top and 11 at the bottom, one 
end being closed, and the other open, but having grooves 
in its sides and bottom, like those of a sluice, into which 
a seiies of horizontal pieces of wood or sticks fit, each 
being about fths of an inch in thickness. The end of a 
piece of cloth of the breadth of the trough being placed over 
the groove at the bottom, the shortest of the sticks is pressed 
down upon it, and the cloth, thus fastened, is made to hang 
down over the edge of the trough into the tub below it. The 
tub at the other end now receives the sago to about two- 
thirds of its depth, when it is filled up nearly to the top with 
water. A man now stirs up a portion of the sago with an 
oar till the water obtains a milky appearance, when he pro¬ 
ceeds to pour it into the troughs. To prevent its falling 
abruptly, an inclined piece of wood, eight inches broad, is 
fixed across the trough, so as to leave only a narrow slit 
between it and the end of the through. The water is poured 
on this, descends into the trough, and slowly flowing to the 
other end deposits a portion of the sago in its progress. The 
suspended cloth, becoming saturated, serves at ouce to main¬ 
tain and equalize the overflow of the water into the tub below 
it. . When the water is poured in, the first waves advance 
rapidly and carry away much of the sago, but those that sue- 
