304 
SAGO. 
ceed deposit the greater part of their more solid contents, 
transporting into the tub only the lighter fibrous particles 
which it is the object of this operation to separate from the 
farina, and by the time the man has performed a similar ser¬ 
vice at the other trough, and is ready to pour a fresh supply 
into the first, the water flowing down the cloth has lost its 
whiteness. This process is continued until the deposit rises 
nearly to the level of the stick, when the sago next to it, which 
generally contains some impure sediment, is taken up with the 
fingers and thrown into the tub. The second stick is now fix¬ 
ed above the first, a fold of the cloth being interposed between 
them to prevent any liquid sago escaping though the seam, and 
the operation goes on as before. When the milk in the upper . 
tub begins to grow shallow, it is again filled up with water and 
more sago stirred up and mixed with it. During the interval 
and at other more prolonged interruptions the water in the 
troughs has sometimes time to deposit all its contents, the last 
being a fine fibrous matter which, if not removed, would leave 
a thin yellow layer. The surface is therefore washed with 
the hand until this layer is effaced and held in suspension. 
When the troughs have been gradually filled up in the manner 
described, by a succession of deposits, and the wall built up 
to the top by the last stick, the sago is left to consolidate for 
12 or 14 hours, The farina which passes out of the troughs 
in the current is afterwards thrown into one of the tubs whose 
contents are to be washed and deposited in their turn, and 
some of it may even be destined to pass through the process 
many times before it sinks in the trough. 
In order to give it the degree of dryness required, it is 
removed from the troughs and exposed for one day to the 
sun in lumps about a cubic foot in size, which are placed on 
tables standing in the open air. Large kajangs* are kept 
in readiness to cover it when a shower of rain falls. It is 
next carried to the large shed where it is thrown in a heap on 
a long table and broken down into a pulverulent state.' It then 
passes through an oblong sieve, 30 inches by 20 inches, of 
which the bottom is formed of parallel fibres from the stem of 
the coconut leaf, kept in their positions by strings which cross 
them at distances of about 2 inches. The lumps which do not 
pass through the long interstices between the fibres are 
thrown back into the heap. 
The granulation or pearling now takes place. The sifted 
sago is placed in a cloth of which the ends are tied to a long 
stick and which is kept expanded in a bag shape by a short 
* Mats made of the leaf of the mangkwang. 
