58 INTRODUCTION. 



regarded as such a luxury that they sell for their weight 

 in gold. 



There were several kinds of Sea-weeds formerly used for 

 food, that are not now much eaten, though they may still 

 retain the specific name of edulis. Tastes change : what 

 was eaten with relish by our forefathers may not always be 

 regarded as a do7t7ie houche by their posterity. The time has 

 been when the tongue of a porpoise was reserved as a 

 special dainty for the Royal table ; we suspect that the 

 tongue of a stag, or peradventure of an ox, would be more 

 to the taste of our good Queen Victoria. Some of our Sea- 

 weeds that were once welcome at the festive board, we 

 surmise get no higher than the tribes whose names they 

 rejoice to bear, such as Swine-tang : nor are they without 

 their value, if they can furnish a feast, even to a greedy 

 porker. Some, however, are still prized at the tables of 

 the great. Porj)h^ra is gathered for culinary purposes, in 



as it eagerly pursues its insect prey. I have taken the nests in nearly every 

 state from the sides of hollow caves, where they adhere in numbers to the 

 walls like so many watch-pockets. 



"The Malays frequently assert that the nests are formed from the bodies 

 of certain sea-snakes, but there is no doubt that Agal-Agal, a marine cel- 

 lular plant, is the material employed in forming those much-prized eatable 

 nests." 



