re reduced into an impalpable flour, which is passed through a sieve.
The lumps, which are retained by the sieve are put back to be
re-bruised, whilst that portion which has passed is collected, and is
placed in a long cloth bag, the gathered ends of which, like those of
a hammock, are attached to a pole, which pole being suspended to a
beam of the building by a rope, one end of it is sharply thrown
forward with a particular jerk, by means of which the sago within is
shortly granulated very fine, and becomes what is technically termed
"pearled." It is then taken out and put into iron vessels, called
_quallies_, for the purpose of being dried. These quallies are small
elliptical pans, and resemble in form the sugar coppers of the West
Indies, and would each hold about five gallons of fluid. They are set
a little inclining, and in a range, over a line of furnaces, each one
having its own fire. Before putting in the sago to be dried, a cloth,
which contains a small quantity of hog's-lard, or some oily substance,
is hastily passed into the qually, and the sago is equally quickly put
into it, and a Chinese laborer who attends it, commences stirring it
with a _pallit_, and thus continues his labor during the few minutes
necessary to expel the moisture contained in the substance. Thus each
qually, containing about ten pounds of sago, requires the attendance
of a man. The sago, on being taken off the fire, is spread out to cool
on large tables, after which it is fit to be packed in boxes, or put
into bags for shipment; and is known in commerce under the name of
"pearl sago." Thus the labor of fifteen or twenty men is required to
do that which, with the aid of simple machinery, might be done much
better by three or four laborers. A water-wheel would both work a
stirring machine and cause an inclined cylinder to revolve over a
fire, for the purpose of drying the sago, in the manner used for corn,
meal, and flour in America, or for roasting coffee and chicory in
England. But the Chinese have no idea of substituting artificial
means, when manual ones are obtainable.

A considerable quantity of sago is exported from Singapore in the
state of flour. The whole quantity made and exported there exceeds, on
the average, 2,500 tons annually. The quantity shipped from this
entrepot is shown by the annexed returns, nearly all of which was
grown and manufactured in the settlement. The estimated value for
export is set down at 14s. per picul