Haunts of and Mode of catching Trepang. 619 



condition. That there is as yet no demand for spirits at 

 Sikayana shows how little intercourse they can as yet have 

 had with civilization. In former years this grouj) was oc- 

 casionally visited by American and English merchantmen, 

 owing to the abundance of Trepang. Since the year 1845, 

 however, when one American captain collected 250 Chinese 

 piculs* (about 15 tons), and ten years later when Captain 

 Cheyne in the course of nine months gathered 265 piculs 

 (about 16f tons), the business is no longer profitable and 

 at present years sometimes slip by without a ship lying to 

 off Sikayana. 



As these v^^orm-like animals, f which in the dried state 

 command, like the Salangan swallows' nests, a high price as 

 a costly delicacy in China and Japan, form an important 

 article of commerce and employ a considerable number of 

 ships annually, we shall indulge in a few remarks on the 

 very laborious operations of preparing the Trepang. 



Of the large number of varieties of Trepang which are 

 found among the coral-reefs of the Pacific, there are only ten 

 suited to the Chinese market, which are accurately distin- 

 guished by their special names. As they fetch a price ac- 

 cording to quality of from 6 to 35 dollars per picul, it is 



* One Chinese picul =133^ lbs. English, whereas one Dutch picul = 135^- lbs. 

 English. 



t Called Trepang by the Malays, hdi-schni by the Chinese, and Biche-de-vwr by 

 both English and French. Of this holotlniria or sea-cucumber {Jlohthuria eclulis), 

 there are about 400 tons annually imported into China from the various islands of 

 the Southern Ocean. 



