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CHAP. XVII. — Defcription of the Sago-tree, and of the Manner in which the Sago isl prepared. — The Ela . — Sago-bread. — Gabbe gabba. — Atap. — Sago -woods of theCompany. — Fruits. — The Sagwire-tree, and the Liquor drawn from it. — Animals.
'—■ Deer. — Wild Hogs. — Babi-rouffa, or Hog-deer. — Fifhes. — Wonderful Stories ofthe Amboynefe. — A Fijh called Jacob Evertfen. — Reptiles. — Snakes. — DomejlicAnimals.
THOUGH the clove-tree yields the richeft production of this ifland, the fago-treeis of much greater utility to the Amboynefe.
This production, which a wife Providence has bellowed as an univerfal article of foodu pon the inhabitants of Amboyna, Ceram, and the furrounding iflands eaft of Celebes ,(for on Celebes it grows not *, though it is again found in Borneo , where on the con-trary, rice, as a primary article of food, is wanting) propagates itfelf by offsets, or fhoots,■which for a long time appear only like bufhes f, and which all proceed from the roots,or from the bottom of the trunk of a full grown tree.
I fhali not fet down all that appeared to me worthy of obfervation on the fubjeCl ofthis tree, as Valentyn, in his defcription of the trees and plants of Amboyna , is ampleln his account of it; but I fhali only make mention of what he has not noticed.
The Item, when it begins to form itfelf out of the bufh, fhoots up as ftraight as anarrow, to the height of between forty and fixty feet, without any lateral branches, juftlike the firi and cocoa-nut trees, to which genus it likewife belongs, forming a hand-fome crown at the top, which affords an agreeable fhade.
A grove of thefe trees, with their erefited ftems, which, when arrived at maturity,confift of nothing but a fpongy and mealy fubftance, furrounded by a hard bark, ofabout half an inch thick, and their beautiful leafy crowns, have a very charming ap-pearance, and form a pleafant and cool retreat.
This white, fpongy, and mealy fubftance is the fago, which ferves the natives in lieu°f bread J.
As the manner in which I have feen the fago poekeled, or made into meal, differs intome refpects from that which Valentyn relates, I fhali here fhortly particularize it.
A tree is firft made choice of, the pith of which it is certain has attained its fullMaturity, and this is perceived by its beginning to be of a yellowifh white caft juft}tttder the foliage §. The ftem is then cut through as clofe to the ground as poflible,ttt order to lofe the lefs of the farinaceous contents.
When the tree is thus felled, it is cut through in the middle of its length into two°r more pieces, and the hard bark of each piece is fplit afunder by the infertion of^’ e dges; the fago then appears uncovered, juft like the fpongy fubftance in our elder-fees. They then make a certain inftrument, refembiing an adze, out of one of the
a* travellers inform us that the fago likewife grows on Celebes , efpecially. and in much abundance,
1 V 1 * bottom of Bmx^uefs Rav. Tr * ‘
Tr.
fifteen or fixteen feet in height. Tr. , j.V w fi en t h e
, + -I he fago tree dots not produce any fruit till it has loft its ftrength and is > °“ f raa 0’fruit likeRanches likewife appear covered with meal; it then produces at the top <.bunch.of
a n a egSS Wh ’ ch a ' e 6vft gTe "n ' A " d afKTWaT<ls 5 t lC keTn f! 18 does not live above thirty
y^nd morafly fnuations, and will not grow except in low grounds, it does X
, § They likewife fometime'; trv it bv chopping a hole in the tree, out of which they * a be fome of the
ro entI ‘ely into green filaments, and yield no fago. Tr. branches
h h %