816 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



established, and its failure would indicate the impossibility of competing with a source of supply 

 so much nearer home, and in a region where labor is much cheaper than in this country. It is, 

 nevertheless, interesting to know that such a food product exists upon the coast of the United 

 States in sufficient quantities to permit of its being utilized, should a demand for it arise. 



TREPANG FISHERY AT KEY WKST. Mr. Silas Stearns, of Peusacola, Fla., writes as follows, 

 regarding the attempted fishery at Key West: 



"In 1871 an Englishman came to Key West, Fla., for the purpose of gathering and preparing 

 trepaug for the Chinese market. He erected a shed, under which were built fire-places, with large 

 kettles and other arrangements, and also frames for drying. He arranged with the fishermen, 

 and fishermen's boys particularly, to bring him all the sea-slugs they could obtain, for which he 

 was to pay a certain price apiece. As the slugs were very abundant on the shoals about Key 

 West, and the prices paid for them were liberal, no trouble was experienced in obtaining large 

 supplies." 



The method of preparation was explained to Mr. Stearns as follows: "The sea-slugs, still 

 alive and fresh, were thrown into the kettles and boiled a certain length of time, but as to the 

 composition of the liquid in which they were cooked, my informant could not tell me. Then they 

 were taken out, the outer rough skin rubbed off, and the body split with a knife, after which the 

 intestines were removed and the body spread on canvas in the sun to dry. The next operation 

 after drying, and the final one, was to smoke them; this was done in a smoke-house of the ordi- 

 nary kind, in which they were suspended on slats. After the final process the trepang were 

 packed in bales, covered with sacking, and shipped to New York, where they were probably 

 reshipped to China. For two seasons (winters) this industry was kept up, and apparently with 

 much success; but at the close of the second season the houses and apparatus were sold, and the 

 operator left Key West. Since then nothing further has been attempted in the trepang industry 

 there." 



