The unprepared
farina, which is the pith of the sago palm, is imported from a
neighbouring island. The tree is cut down when it is seven years old,
split from top to bottom, and the pith extracted from it. Then it is
freed from the fibres, pressed in large frames, and dried at the fire or
in the sun. At Singapore this pith or meal, which is of a yellowish
tint, is steeped in water for several days until completely blanched; it
is then once more dried by the fire or in the sun, passed under a large
wooden roller, and through a hair sieve. When it has become white and
fine, it is placed in a kind of linen winnowing-fan, which is kept damp
in a peculiar manner. The workman takes a mouthful of water, and "spirts
it out like fine rain over the fan;" the meal being alternately shaken
and moistened until it assumes the character of small globules. These
are stirred round in large flat pans, until they are dried. Then they
are passed through a second sieve, not quite so fine as the first, and
the larger globules are separated from the rest.
Pepper and gambir plantations are also among the "sights" of Singapore.
The pepper-tree is a small bush-like plant, which, when carefully
trained, springs to a height of eighteen feet. The pepper-pods grow in
small clusters, and change from red to green, and then to black. White
pepper is nothing more than the black pepper blanched by frequent
steeping in sea-water.
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