256 The Commercial Products of the Sea. 



swimming-bladders are thrown away with the entrails. At 

 Newfoundland they form part of the food of the seamen, 

 and a few barrels are sent to France. From Cochin China 

 a small quantity is shipped to China. From Cayenne 

 9774 Ibs., valued at ;io66, were shipped in 1874. The 

 average annual imports of isinglass into China were, in 

 the five years ending 1870, 2953 piculs of 133 Ibs., and in 

 the five years ending 1875, 3934 piculs. 



Fish-Maws are the swimming-bladders or sounds of 

 different fish, extracted and merely dried in the sun, and 

 considered a great luxury by the Chinese, as possessing 

 strengthening properties. They are extensively collected 

 on the Malabar coast and shipped to Bombay, from 

 whence large quantities are re-exported, principally to 

 China and the Straits Settlements. 



In the official year ending 1872, 9008 cwts. of fish- 

 maws and sharks' fins, valued at .30,100, were exported 

 from Bombay. From Penang 2277 piculs were shipped 

 in 1870, and from Singapore 125,946 cwt, valued at ^"13,717. 

 They often fetch as much as 14 the cwt in the Canton 

 market. 



