S a g o O v e n .
“ Coverings o f the Nip a or common Attop, fuch as they ufe on
“ the fouth-weft coaft of Sumatra, will not laft half the time.
“ When fago trees are cut down, freih ones fprout up from the
“ roots ; the wild hogs frequent the places where fago trees have
“ lately been cut down, and the flour or pith has been taken out;
“ they there feaft and fatten on the remains.
“ We feldom or never fee fago in Europe but in a granulated
“ ftate. To bring it into this ftate from the flour, it muft be
“ firft moiftened, and pafled through a iieve into an iron pot
“ (very ihallow) held over a fire, which enables it to afiume a
“ globular form.
“ T h u s all our grained fago is half baked, and will keep long.
“ The pulp or powder of which this is made, will alfo keep
“ long, i f preferved from the air, but, if expofed, it prefently
“ turns four.
“ T h e Papua oven for this flour is made of earthen ware;
“ it is generally nine inches fquare, and about four deep; it
“ is divided into two equal parts by a partition parallel to its
“ fides; each o f thofe parts is fubdivided into eight or nine,
“ about an inch broad (tab. 27.); fo the whole contains two
“ rows o f cells, about eight or nine in a row. The fago bread,
“ freih from the oven, eats juft like hot rolls. Bread thus baked
“ will keep, I am told, feveral years; I have kept it twelve
“ months, nor did vermin deftroy it in that time.”
O t h e r w r i t e r s w h o h a v e t r e a t e d o f t h i s u f e f u l t r e e a r e ,
Kaempfer, Amoen. Exot. 897; Phunberg, FI. Jap. 229; Raii. Hiß.
pi. 1360; Seb. Muf. i . 39. t a b . 25; Dampier, i . 310 ; a n d G. Forfier,
Flor. Auftr. inf. p. 78, w h o f a y s i t is fo u n d in t h e Friendly Ißes
and
and New Hebrides. Rumphius defcribes fome other fpecies o f
this tree, or o f the palm which contains the fago. To that moft
admirable writer I muft refer the reader for a copious hiftory of
the valuable nutriment.
On this tree, perhaps more frequent than any palm, is found
lodged in the center of the pith the infedt called Curculio Palma-
rium, Lin. Jacq. Am. 278; Merian, Surin. tab. 48. fig. 3; the
Gojfus Saguarius o f Rumphius, i. 78. 79.' 83. tab. 17. Its Cofpus,
or caterpillar, is efteemed a delicacy among the natives of both
Indies, as the CoJJi Altiles, or fatted caterpillars, were among the
Romans. Pliny, lib. xvii- c. 24, fays that the largeft and moft
delicious were thofe of the oak, which his luxurious countrymen
fattened with flour.
Morty, an ifland that nearly divides the mouth o f the long bay
at the north o f Gilolo, rifes with great beauty out of the fea ; it
is particularly noted for the fago trees; is thinly inhabited,
but much frequented by parties from Gilolo, for the fake of
cutting the trees for the pith ; the Dutch, therefore, to prevent
the fmuggling of the fpices, conftantly keep fome o f the country
veflels cruizing between the two iflands. Morty belongs to Pernate.
W e now arrive at the Papuan ljlands, the group which lies
between Patany Point and New Guinea (they take their name from
the land of Papua, or New Guinea), and as low as the ifland of
Ceram. The names o f the principal are Waggiou, Gammon,
Patanta, Salwatty, and Myxoal, furrounded by others, fmall, and
o f little note, unlefs by being the places where the adventurous
Forreji touched in his voyage in fearch o f the nutmeg trees.
He
C u r c u l io
P a l m a r i u m .
M o r t y .
P a p u a n
I s l a n d s .