no more were found. I certify thereto. Witnesses, Pedro Brizeño de Eseguera, Diego Nuñez, and Ensign Melchor de Torres.
Grabiel de Ribera
Before me:
Benito de Mendiola, notary of the fleet
In the said village of Mindanao, on this said day, the thirty-first of March of the said year, the said captain, considering that, by reason of the long voyage and bad weather, and the great lack of all kinds of food in the fleet, because of his long stay; and seeing how much was needed if he accomplish the purpose for which the governor despatched him on this expedition, and the said hunger and want; and that he could not by any method secure provisions in all this river: therefore he ordered that certain of those captured Indians, natives of this country, be set to making landan[1] a food eaten in that river. For this
- ↑ Reference is here made to the starchy food procured from the sago-palm, called by the natives burí (Corypha umbraculifera). This tree gives name to the island of Burias, where it grows abundantly. By tapping the tree, as is done with the American maple, the sweet sap (called by the natives tuba or "water-honey") is obtained, from which are made a syrup and a dark sugar; also the natives manufacture from it wine and brandy. The young shoots or buds are edible, as is the entire inner part or pith of the tree. This pith is placed in troughs, wherein it is soaked in water, which washes out certain bitter substances; it is then pounded, which causes the starchy grains to separate from the tissues of the pith. These grains are collected and dried, and made into a flour called sago (or sagú), which furnishes a nutritious and healthful food; in the islands where this tree abounds, the sago takes the place of rice. The leaves of the sago-palm are used as a covering for houses, sails for vessels, and many other purposes. See Delgado's Hist. de Filipinos (Manila, 1892—but written in 1753-54), pp. 660-662, for a long and detailed description of this tree and its uses; also Blanco's Flora de Filipinas, p. 160, and U. S. Philippine Gazetteer, p. 74.
