-trunk.

The sago is separated from the fibres in the pith by the aid of water.
The natives take two sheaths of the sago-plant and make them into
water-troughs. They set them up upon little frames, one sheath a little
higher than the other, with one of its narrow ends projecting like a
spout over the lower sheath. A kind of net-like bark or skin, obtained
from the cocoanut tree, serves as a strainer or sieve, and is stretched
across the upper sheath or trough. They empty the broken pith into the
trough above the strainer, and pour water upon it. The soft part of the
pith is a kind of starch, which dissolves in the water, and so flows
through the sieve and down the spout into the lower trough, but the
fibres are held back by the sieve. In order to get all the sago-starch
out of the pith, the sago-maker kneads and squeezes the pith until
nothing but fibre remains. This is waste, and is thrown away. When the
sago-laden water falls into the lower trough it rests awhile, and the
sago sinks into the bottom of the sheath as a soft reddish sediment,
while the clear water rises to the top, and by and by trickles over the
end of the sheath. When this trough is nearly full the sago-starch is
taken out, made into rolls, and wrapped in the leaves of the tree.

The sago thus prepared is known as raw sago, and is used by the
islanders without being further refined. They boil it in water, and eat
it with fruits and salt, or they bake it into cakes in a little clay
oven. When these cakes have been well dried they will keep for years; a
man can make in a few days sufficient sago-cakes to last him a whole
year. It has been calculated that a single tree will produce about
eighteen hundred of these cakes.

The sago which we use for our puddings is made by refining the raw
sago. When our grandfathers and grandmothers were young, the best raw
sago used to be mixed with water and rubbed into small grains before it
was sent to Europe. At the present time the sago, after being moistened,
is passed through a sieve into a shallow iron pot, placed over a fire,
and in this way the round pearly sago which we use is produced. As this
sago is half-baked in this operation, it will keep for a very long time.

The Malays call the sago-tree the _rumbiya_ and its pith _sagu_ from
which word we get our name _sago_. We have here an instance of a Malay
word which is in daily use in the English language.

FAITH AND SIGHT.

A little story is told w