The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

LIFE IN THE JUNGLE 155
Vegetable tallow is procured from the seeds
of the engkabong tree {Skorea). The seeds are
crushed and the tallow melted out and gathered
in bamboos. It is used as a food, generally
smeared on hot rice. It is sometimes a principal
feature of the Punan's diet for considerable periods.
Wild sago is abundant and is much used by
Punans, and occasionally by most of the other
peoples when their supply oi padi is short. The
sago tree is cut down and its stem is split into
several pieces with wedges. The pith is knocked
out with a bamboo mallet. The sago is prepared
from the pith by the women, who stamp it
on coarse mats, pouring water upon it. The
fine grains of sago are carried through on to a
trough below. It is then washed and boiled in
water, when it forms a viscid mass ; this is eaten
with a spoon or with a strip of bamboo bent double,
the two ends of which are turned round in the
sago and withdrawn with a sticky mass adherent ;
this is plunged in the gravy of pork and carried to
the mouth. It is generally considered a delicacy.
Many varieties of the forest trees exude resins,
which are collected and used for torches and for
repairing boats, as well as brought to the bazaars,
where the best kinds fetch very good prices.
Sometimes the resin is found in large masses on
the ground where it has dripped from the trees.
A curious and valuable natural product is the
bezoar stone. These stones are found in the gallbladder
and intestines of the long-tailed monkey
Semnopithecus (most frequently of S, Hosei and S,
rubicundMs). They are formed of concentric layers
of a hard, brittle, olive-green substance, very bitter
to the taste. A soft brown variety is found in the
porcupine. Both kinds are highly valued by the
Chinese as medicine. The monkeys and porcupines
are hunted for the sake of these stones. A similar