332  Sago  Cultivation  in  North  Borneo.  [^SEaST*" 
Sumatra  and  adjacent  islands.  It  does  not  reach  so  far  eastward  as 
New  Guinea.  In  North  Borneo  it  is  known  as  rumbia  benar.  Wet, 
rich  soils,  especially  at  the  base  of  mountains,  are  its  favorite  locali- 
ties. This  species  is  regarded  as  the  principal  botanical  source  of 
the  sago  received  in  Europe. 
The  thorny  sago  palm  (ftletroxylon  Rumphii)  is  found  further 
east  than  the  other  species.  It  is  plentiful  in  New  Guinea,  and  in 
the  Moluccas  and  Amboyna. 
Both  sago  palms  resemble  each  other  in  general  appearance,  but 
the  latter  is  a  smaller  tree,  and  it  has  its  leaf-stalk  and  the  sheaths 
enveloping  the  lower  part  of  the  flower  spikes  armed  with  sharp 
spines  from  one-half  an  inch  to  about  one  inch  long.  It  has,  more- 
over, decided  littoral  tendencies,  and  is  abundant  along  the  shores 
of  many  small  islands,  forming  a  dense,  impenetrable  belt.  In  North 
Borneo  the  thorny  sago  palm  is  known  as  rumbia  berduri,  or  rumbia 
salak. 
Some  sago  is  obtained  from  the  sugar  palm  (Arenga  sacchariferd) 
after  the  plant  is  exhausted  of  its  saccharine  juice.  The  sago  palm  of 
India  is  Caryota  urens.  The  farinaceous  part  of  the  trunk  of  old 
trees  is  said  by  Roxburgh  to  equal  the  best  sago  from  the  Malay 
islands.  In  China,  Japan  and  Florida,  sago,  differing  in  character 
of  the  starch  grains  from  palm  sago,  is  obtained  from  species  of 
Cycas  such  as  C.  revoluta  and  C.  circinalis.  The  commercial  import- 
ance of  the  latter  is  very  slight. 
The  cultivation  of  the  true  sago  palms  is  entirely  confined  to  the 
Eastern  Archipelagos.  The  plants  are  difficult  to  grow  elsewhere, 
and  it  is  improbable  that  the  industry  will  extend  beyond  its  present 
limits.  Both  species  of  Mctroxylon  are  monocarpic,  and  die  after 
the  seeds  are  ripened.  The  life  of  the  plant  lasts  for  about  fifteen 
to  twenty  years,  at  the  end  of  which  period  the  terminal  inflores- 
cence is  formed.  In  spite  of  the  abundance  of  flowers  very  few 
fruits  are  produced  ;  these  occupy  two  or  three  years  in  ripening. 
The  propagation  of  these  palms  is  usually  effected  by  means  of 
suckers  or  stolons  formed  around  the  base  of  old  trees. 
An  interesting  account  of  sago  cultivation  in  Province  Dent,  in 
British  North  Borneo,  is  included  by  Governor  Creagh  in  the  report 
on  the  Blue  Book  of  Labuan  for  1893.  {Colonial  Reports,  No.  122, 
Annual,  1894.)  As  the  subject  has  not  hitherto  been  dealt  with  in 
these  pages,  the  report,  wThich  has  evidently  been  carefully  prepared 
