midribs form the "atap "or thatch in universal use, while the
product of the trunk is the staple food of some= hundred
thousands of men.

When sago is to be made, a full-grown tree is selected just
before it is going to flower. It is cut down close to the ground,
the leaves and leafstalks cleared away, and a broad strip of the
bark taken off the upper side of the trunk. This exposes the
pithy matter, which is of a rusty colour near the bottom of the
tree, but higher up pure white, about as hard as a dry apple, but
with woody fibre running through it about a quarter of an inch
apart. This pith is cut or broken down into a coarse powder by
means of a tool constructed for the purpose--a club of hard and
heavy wood, having a piece of sharp quartz rock firmly imbedded
into its blunt end, and projecting about half an inch. By
successive blows of this, narrow strips of the pith are cut away,
and fall down into the cylinder formed by the bark. Proceeding
steadily on, the whole trunk is cleared out, leaving a skin not
more than half an inch in thickness. This material is carried
away (in baskets made of the sheathing bases of the leaves) to
the nearest water, where a washing-machine is put up, which is
composed almost entirely of the saga tree itself. The large
sheathing bases of the leaves form the troughs, and the fibrous
covering from the leaf-stalks of the young cocoa-nut the
strainer. Water is poured 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 away,
and a fresh basketful put in its place. The water charged with
sago starch passes on to a trough, with a depression in the
centre, where the sediment is deposited, the surplus water