3 82 



ON THE PLACE OF FISH IN 



The use of 

 fish in other 

 countries at 

 the present 

 time. 



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 beche-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 



