the Saguerus pinnatus of the Batavian
Transactions, and the cleophora of Gaertner. Its leaves are long and
narrow and, though naturally tending to a point, are scarcely ever found
perfect, but always jagged at the end. The fruit grows in bunches of
thirty or forty together, on strings three or four feet long, several of
which hang from one shoot. In order to procure the nira or toddy (held in
higher estimation than that from the coconut-tree), one of these shoots
for fructification is cut off a few inches from the stem, the remaining
part is tied up and beaten, and an incision is then made, from which the
liquor distils into a vessel or bamboo closely fastened beneath. This is
replaced every twenty-four hours. The anau palm produces also (beside a
little sago) the remarkable substance called iju and gomuto, exactly
resembling coarse black horse-hair, and used for making cordage of a very
excellent kind, as well as for many other purposes, being nearly
incorruptible. It encompasses the stem of the tree, and is seemingly
bound to it by thicker fibres or twigs, of which the natives made pens
for writing. Toddy is likewise procured from the lontar or Borassus
flabellifer, the tala of the Hindus.

SAGO.

The rambiya, puhn sagu, or proper sago tree, is also of the palm kind.
Its trunk contains a farinaceous and glutinous pith that, being soaked,
dried, and granulated, becomes the sago of our shops, and has been too
frequently and accurately described (by Rumphius in particular, Volume 1
chapters 17 and 18, and by M. Poivre) to need a repetition here.

NIBONG.

The nibong (Caryota urens), another species of palm, grows wild in such
abundance as not to need cultivation. The stem is tall, slender, and
straight, and, being of a hard texture on the outer part, it is much used
for posts in building the slight houses of the country, as well as for
paling of a stronger kind than the bamboo usually employed. Withinside it
is fibrous and soft and, when hollowed out, being of the nature of a
pipe, is well adapted to the purpose of gutters or channels to convey
water. The cabbage, as it is termed, or pith at the head of the tree (the
germ of the foliage) is eaten as a delicacy, and preferred to that of the
coconut.

NIPAH.

The nipah (Cocos nypa, Lour.) a low species of palm, is chiefly valuable
for its leaves, which are much used as thatch for the roofs of houses.
The pulpy kernels of the fruit (called buah atap) are preserved a