5? Mr C. Collier on the Sea-Slug of' India. 



on properties which are understood only by those who have had 

 a long experience of the trade. The Chinese merchants are al- 

 most the only persons who possess this skill ; even the native 

 fishers themselves, as Crawford remarks, being often ignorant 

 on the subject, and always leaving the cargo to be assorted by 

 the Chinese on their return to port. The commercial classifi- 

 cation made by the Chinese, is curious and particular. In the 

 market of Macassar, the greatest staple of this fishery, not less 

 than thirty varieties, are distinguished, varying in price from 

 five Spanish dollars per picul (picul is 133^ lbs.) to fourteen 

 times that price, each being particularized by well- known names. 

 It is evident from this account, says Crawford, that the Tripang 

 trade is one in which no stranger can safely embark, and it is 

 consequently almost entirely in the hands of the Chinese. The 

 quantity of Tripang sent annually to China from Macassar is 

 about 7000 piculs, or 8333 cwt. The price in the market of 

 China varies from eight Spanish dollars per picul, to 20, to 50, 

 to 75, to 110, and to as high as 115, according to quality. 



The whole quantity sent to China from Macassar, and other 

 parts of India, may be estimated at 14,000 piculs. Taking 

 this quantity at the low average of 40 dollars a picul, and va- 

 luing the dollar at 4s. 3d., its entire value, in a commercial 

 view, is L. 119,000. Notwithstanding this enormous export to 

 China, we do not understand that its value in the market has 

 ever been materially affected by the quantity imported, an evi- 

 dent proof that the demand of the market still exceeds the sup- 

 ply. When we reflect that the opium, pepper, birds' nests, 

 sharks' fins, tripang, and various other articles, the products of the 

 countries under our controul, which are fully as indispensable to 

 the Chinese as the teas of China are to Europe, the fear so much 

 entertained of the Chinese interdicting our trade with that empire 

 is quite preposterous. In short, these few articles of luxury 

 give us the command of the Chinese tea market. The celestial 

 empire cannot exist without its tripang and birds' nests. 



