PREPARING SAGO.
SAGO OVEN.
"The dry powder is then washed, and strained through a coarse sieve;the water flows into a deep trough with a depression in the centre, where the sago sinks to the bottom and is secured. It is then pressed into cylinders weighing about thirty pounds each, or it is baked into cakes in a clay oven, with a series of compartments an inch wide, and six inches long and deep. The cakes will keep a long while if they are dried in the sun after baking. I have eaten sago that was said to be ten years old, and found it perfectly good."
Fred wished to know how much sago there was in a tree, and how much it costs for a man to live in the sago country.
"A single tree will produce from eight hundred to one thousand pounds of sago," was the reply, "which will support a man for a year. Two men can reduce a tree to dry powder in five days, and therefore we may say that ten days' labor will support a man for a year. The result isthat in the sago country the people are indolent, and not at all prosperous; they have no incentive to work, and therefore make no effort to do anything. They wear very little clothing; and as for their houses, they have no occasion for anything more than rude huts, which can be built by a couple of men in a few hours. It has been observed by all who have visited Ceram that the inhabitants are not as well off as the people of the islands that produce rice, as the latter must work a great deal harder to support themselves, and will lose their whole crop unless they pay attention to their fields.
SUGAR-PALM OF MACASSAR.
"From Ceram I went to Macassar, where they have a palm-tree producing a sweet juice that may be made into beer, or boiled down into sugar, like the sap of a maple-tree. It is not unlike the sago-palm in general appearance, and will grow wherever it can find sufficient soil for its roots. The island is very rough and mountainous, and the variety of soil enables it to produce a great many things. I was invited to stay on the plantation of a friend who lived among the hills, and promised me a pleasant time.
CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN.
"The road to the plantation was very steep in several places, and the mules that we rode had all they could do to carry us. The path woundin and out among the rocks, and under the trees peculiar to the tropics; and one of the trees came near being the cause of my falling over a high cliff."
"How was that?"
"Fruit was so abundant that the natives did not gather all of it as fast as it ripened; every little while I saw mangoes or bananas lying in the path, and the incident I mention was caused by my mule stepping on a banana and slipping to the ground. He left me sprawling just on the edge of the cliff; if he had pitched me a foot farther, I should have gone over and been dashed to death on the rocks below.
"I stayed with my friend a week, and found that he had a most delightful residence. He was fond of hunting, and was able to supply his table with meat by means of his gun and dogs. There were many wild pigs in the neighborhood, and he shot two of them while I was there, so that we had pork in abundance. Then there were several kinds of birds that were excellent eating. He had all the milk he wanted from his buffaloes, and made his own butter, raised his own rice and coffee, and smoked cigars from his own tobacco. He had ducks and chickens, and eggs in any desired quantity; his palm-trees supplied him with palm-wine and sugar, and he had nearly every tropical fruit that can be named. You see, by this account of his plantation, how well a man may live in one of the islands of the Archipelago, provided he can reconcile himself to the absence of society, and be contented with the sport that the hilly country affords.
COMING DOWN THE MOUNTAIN.
"When I came away my friend accompanied me down the mountain, and I found the journey much easier than going up; in fact, it was too easy, and the mules were inclined to go faster than we liked to have them. A part of the way I hired a boy to hang on to the tail of my beast, which he did, somewhat to the annoyance of the latter. This kind of check was evidently new to him, and he tried to elevate his heels sufficiently to shake off the encumbrance. But he could not do so without danger of turning a somersault; and consequently his kicking was confined to a few slight movements. When the path became less steep I dismissed the boy, and the animal went along as demurely as ever.
"But my time is up," said the gentleman, looking at his watch, "and your note-books are full. I am sorry I have not another hour or two in which to tell you of Celebes, where the Dutch have established the same system of culture that has made Java so prosperous; of Borneo, where the people and the products form a study of unusual interest; of New Guinea, a country rarely visited by Europeans; and of many other partsof the Eastern Archipelago. Perhaps we will meet again one of these days, and then I will try to give you more information similar to what I have been narrating, and trust you will not find it without interest."
Frank and Fred were earnest in their thanks to their kind informant; and the Doctor added his words of indebtedness to theirs. Expressions of regret at their separation were made on both sides, and the final hand-shaking was the cause of little lumps in youthful and manly throats that choked the voices, and made the "good-byes" a trifle husky in their utterance.
At the stipulated time the repairs to the carriage were completed, and our friends made all haste back to Buitenzorg, and thence to Batavia. At their banker's they found a large parcel of letters, which had just arrived by the last mail from Singapore; and the evening of their return from the interior was devoted to the perusal of the precious missives from home. The next day found them busy with plans for their future movements, and you may be sure that the map of the eastern hemisphere was thoroughly studied, and the routes of travel and commerce carefully examined. In this occupation we will leave theDoctor and his young companions, with the assurance that in due time the Bassett and Bronson families, and all their friends, Miss Effie included, will be fully informed of the adventures that befell
THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST.
"GOOD-BYE!"
THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. Part I. Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Japan and China. ByThomas W. Knox. Copiously Illustrated. 8vo, Cloth, $3.00.
THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. Part II. Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Siam and Java. With Descriptions of Cochin-China, Cambodia, Sumatra, and the Malay Archipelago. ByThomas W. Knox. Copiously Illustrated. 8vo, Cloth, $3.00.
THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. Part III. Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Ceylon and India. With Descriptions of Borneo, the Philippine Islands, and Burmah. ByThomas W. Knox. Copiously Illustrated. 8vo, Cloth, $3.00.
HUNTING ADVENTURES ON LAND AND SEA. The Young Nimrods in North America. A Book for Boys. ByThomas W. Knox. Copiously Illustrated. 8vo, Cloth, $2.50.
THE HISTORY OF A MOUNTAIN. ByÉlisée Reclus. Illustrated by L. Bennett. 12mo, Cloth, $1.25.
WHAT MR. DARWIN SAW IN HIS VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD IN THE SHIP "BEAGLE." Ill'd. 8vo, Cloth, $3.00.
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AN INVOLUNTARY VOYAGE. ByLucien Biart. Illustrated. 12mo, Cloth, $1.25.
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THE WARS OF THE ROSES. ByJohn G. Edgar. Illustrated. 16mo, Cloth, $1.00.
FOOTNOTES:[1]"The Boy Travellers in the Far East. Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Japan and China." By Thomas W. Knox. Published by Harper & Brothers, New York, 1880.[2]An immense temple or chapel in the palace enclosure, where the kings are crowned, and where they lie in state for twelve months after their deaths, awaiting the ceremony of cremation.[3]For much of the information concerning the culture-system of General Van den Bosch and its results, the author is indebted to the excellent and exhaustive work of Mr. J. W. B. Money, entitled "Java; or, How to Manage a Colony."
[1]"The Boy Travellers in the Far East. Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Japan and China." By Thomas W. Knox. Published by Harper & Brothers, New York, 1880.
[1]"The Boy Travellers in the Far East. Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Japan and China." By Thomas W. Knox. Published by Harper & Brothers, New York, 1880.
[2]An immense temple or chapel in the palace enclosure, where the kings are crowned, and where they lie in state for twelve months after their deaths, awaiting the ceremony of cremation.
[2]An immense temple or chapel in the palace enclosure, where the kings are crowned, and where they lie in state for twelve months after their deaths, awaiting the ceremony of cremation.
[3]For much of the information concerning the culture-system of General Van den Bosch and its results, the author is indebted to the excellent and exhaustive work of Mr. J. W. B. Money, entitled "Java; or, How to Manage a Colony."
[3]For much of the information concerning the culture-system of General Van den Bosch and its results, the author is indebted to the excellent and exhaustive work of Mr. J. W. B. Money, entitled "Java; or, How to Manage a Colony."