The use of 
fish in other 
countries at 
the present 
time. 
52 ON THE PLACE OF FISH IN 
was similar to that of the Greeks, but the gourmets 
of the empire had invented many varied modes of 
dressing them, and had sent far and wide over all 
the empire in search of delicacies for the banquet. 
Not content with the rich supply of the Mediterranean 
and the lakes and rivers of Italy, fish was imported 
from Britain, from Greece, Egypt, and the Danubian 
provinces, and even the rivers of Syria and Asia 
Minor furnished their delicacies to the Imperial 
banquets. 
Of both the Greeks and Romans, however, we 
know next to nothing of the way in which fish was 
used by the masses of the people. 
At the present day fish forms a very large element 
in the diet of many nations and tribes. So largely is 
fish eaten in China that the home supply is not 
sufficient, and vast numbers of the population find 
employment in obtaining it from other countries. 
One of the chief imports is the béche-de-mer or 
trepany, a species of sea-slug, much prized as a 
delicacy by the Chinese gourmets. Fiji and the 
islands of Polynesia furnish the largest quantities, and 
from them also there is a steady supply of dried 
sharks’ fins, which are regarded as especially nourish- 
ing on account of the great amount of gelatinous 
matter they contain. The great salmon fisheries of 
Yezo, so well described by Miss Bird, find a ready 
market in China, but for some reason not wholly 
for home consumption, as several million pounds 
of dried or preserved salmon are exported every 
year. Throughout China the millions who form the 
