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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[March 2, 1885. 



Oheyne. Various notices of the old fisheries for beche- 

 de-mer are given by Flinders, Parker King, Crawfurd, 

 and others. At the present time many vessels are fitted 

 out and despatched from the different ports of the 

 Australian colonies in pursuit of this industry, the 

 numerous reefs of the Great Barrier abounding in beche- 

 de-mer. The number of vessels has, however, fallen off 

 during the last fifteen or twenty years, as nearly all the 

 reefs immediately surrounding wooded islands have been 

 denuded of their fish, wood being a most necessary article 

 in the curing process. It has therefore become impossible 

 for small vessels to engage in che business, and the em- 

 ployment of much larger ships, of sufficient capacity to 

 carry a considerable quantity of wood for the smoke 

 house, is necessitated. 



[Then come descriptions of the smoke house for curing 

 the slugs and the mode of gathering them from the 

 coral-reefs.] 



As before mentioned, there are many 'kinds of Holothuria, 

 but only six are collected for the Chinese market. These 

 are known to the white man as "black fish, red fish, 

 prickly black, prickly red, white teat fish, and black 

 teat fish." Sometimes also a white sand fish is collected, 

 but only if there be a scarcity of more valuable kinds. 

 Some knowledge is required to determine the real black 

 fish from stain fish, which, if touched, will stain the 

 hands a bright crimson that is difficult to get off again. 

 The only use made of this description of fish is by the 

 natives of some of the South Sea Islands, who rub the 

 entrance of the crevices where they suppose "squid" to 

 be lying, which has the effect of making them come out, 

 when they fall easily victims to the spears of the nat- 

 ives. It is also difficult to distinguish some of the 

 sand fish from the marketable red fish until they are 

 trodden on or touched, when they eject a quantity of white 

 stringy fibres, which, coming in contact with the flesh of 

 one's leg or hand, causes an intense itching for some little 

 time. 



"Whilst searching a reef (unless one knows how to search), 

 on its becoming dry after the tide has fallen, one might 

 easily be led to suppose that it was not worth the trouble 

 of working, so small a show is there of black fish, or in- 

 deed, of any kind of beche-de-mer ; but if the coral 

 boulders are lifted, under each will be found one or more 

 holothurians, intended or squeezed into the shape of the 

 cavity in which they lie. Although beche-de-mer is not 

 soft to touch, it is wonderful into what small apertures 

 they contrive to insert themselves. On the other hand, 

 when the tide is returning, they emerge from their hid- 

 ing places, and the reef swarms with them. Their usual 

 mode of moving from one place to another is by contract- 

 ing themselves into a tight ball and allowing the flowing 

 tide to wash them to a fresh feeding place. Black fish, 

 as I have already observed, prefer the live coral. They 

 are, when full-sized, about one foot in length, and from 

 three to four inches in diameter. This fish, when handled, 

 empties itself of its inside — or, as the beche-de-mer man 

 technically puts it, in language more graphic than delic- 

 ate, "spews" — which appears to be a habit common to 

 all Holothurians. 



The red fish, which is perhaps slightly less common than 

 (lie black fish and which grows to considerably larger 

 dimensions — as much as 2 ft. in length, by 10 in. to 12 in. 

 in circumference — is coloured a rich tawny red on the 

 upper side, prefers a coarse sandy bottom, and is of a 

 much softer nature than the "black teat" or "sand fish," 

 though less so than the prickly black or prickly red ; 

 these latter are much the same colour as their namesakes, 

 but are covered on the upper side with small pointed ex- 

 cresences, from which they take their name. 



Teat or pig fish, so called from having slight protuber- 

 ances on each side, somewhat resembling the teats of a 

 pig, are of two kinds, black and white; they are generally 

 considered the most valuable description of fish, weighing 

 heavier when dried than any other kind of beche-de-mer. 

 They are much broader, flatter, and harder than black 

 fish, .and usually found on rotten or dead coral banks. 

 It is difficult to say whether the white teat fish is the 

 same species as the black teat fish, or merely in a dif- 

 ferent stage of development, being found together on the 

 same bank ; indeed, it is a misnomer to call them white, 

 as they are more often piebald, it being quite n rarity 



to find one entirely white. On the other hand, they may 

 be a separate species, or even a cross between the black 

 teat and the whitish-coloured sand fish. The latter are 

 found generally half buried in the sand on the lee side 

 of a reef or sand bank, and are rough and coarse, 

 growing to about the same size as black fish. They are 

 not considered very valuable, but help to fill up the bags, 

 mixed with the other kinds. ***** 



Beche-de-mer is mostly sold to the Chinese merchants 

 in Sydney, where it fetches from £60 to £120 per ton, 

 according to the market and quality of the fish. Some, 

 however, is forwarded directly to China, where no doubt 

 it fetches a little more; but there is freight and insurance 

 to be deducted, which brings it to about the same value 

 in the end. 



In order to convert the fish into soup, it is first plunged 

 into scalding brine, which enables the cook to remove the 

 black skin on the outside, leaving the white gelatine- 

 looking flesh ; this is again soaked for forty-eight hours 

 in warm water, when the fish swells to nearly its original 

 size ; it is then cut into dice of about half an inch square, 

 and placed in a pan with two parts of water to one of 

 beche-de-mer, where it is simmered until it is dissolved 

 into a thick glutinous jelly, nearly transparent. It is 

 then passed through a fine sieve or muslin in order to 

 separate any particles of skin or fibre that may remain ; 

 and on being mixed with other ingredients, according to 

 the taste of the consumer, makes the most strentheniug, 

 stimulating, and delicious soup ever prepared. — Field. 



AMERICAN SUGAR AND COFFEE PLANTERS 

 WANTED IN SAMOA. 



BY CONSUL CANISIUS, OF APIA. 



It seems a pity that these islands, whose trade we 

 ought almost to monopolize, send us nothing but copra. 

 Thousands of acres of fine land, which could be made to 

 produce immense quantities of sugar, coffee, and other 

 valuable tropical products, of which the natural market 

 would be San Francisco, are allowed to remain idle. Ex- 

 perienced planters here say that the climate of these 

 islands, as well as the soil, particularly adapts them for 

 sugar growing. The moisture is always abundant, so that 

 the planter would not need to stand in dread of drought. 

 If some of our sugar or coffee merchants, with sufficient 

 capital will establish plantations on these islands, I may 

 safely predict that Samoa will become, in a very short 

 time, a second Hawaii. They could adopt a plan, which 

 works admirably in other groups, namely, that of divid- 

 ing up the land into small lots, to be apportioned out 

 among Chinese settlers, the owners to say what kind of 

 crop is to be raised. The Chinese in return would pay 

 over a certain portion of their produce as rent, ami sell 

 the remainder to the proprietor, purchasing their supplies 

 at his store. This is undoubtedly the most practical plan, 

 besides a larger amount of produce would be raised if 

 the laborers were directly interested in the crop. Thus 

 would these islands yield large quantities of one of the 

 most marketable productions of the tropics, and we would 

 obtain as great a control over them both commercial and 

 political, as we now have over King Kalakua's dominions. 

 When the Panama canal is opened, which event M. de 

 Lesseps fixes for 1S83, the importance- of the Samoa group 

 will increase vastly to all nations having trade with Aus- 

 tralasia, and especially to the United States. Pagopagq, 

 the finest natural harbor in the South Seas (and where 

 the United States naval station is situated), lies almost 

 in the direct line of that great stream of commerce which 

 will some day find its way through the Isthmus of Darien, 

 from our Atlantic sea coast and Europe to Australasia. 

 Even now the Pacific mail steamers, plying between San 

 Francisco and Auckland, pass within a few miles of this 

 harbor, and when the increased trade which would spring 

 up with the establishment of American plantations in the 

 group makes it profitable enough, will no doubt call there, 

 as they now do at Honolulu. The Fiji group will also 

 benefit by the opening of the Panama canal, but never to 

 such extent as to Samoa, for vessels cannot venture amongst 

 its dangerous rocks, reefs, shoals, and intricate passages 

 without considerable risk, especially as Fiji is directly in 

 tlie 'hurricane track," which is not the case with the 



