CHAPTER XIV. 



THE HOLOTHURIA, TREPANG, OR SEA-CUCUMBER. 



"What hirlest thou in thy treasure-caves and cells, 

 Thou hollow-sounding and mysterious main ?" MBS. HEMANS. 



E do not suppose that many of our readers will 

 have seen a " sea-cucumber ; " we are certain 

 they will not have partaken of one as " an 

 article of diet." Yet in many parts of the 

 world it forms a recognized and valued " dish;" and as it 

 is the object of a not inconsiderable fishery, it will rightly 

 figure in these pages. 



" Sea-cucumber " is the popular appellation for a mem- 

 ber of the great class Echinodermata (literally, spiny- 

 skinned), which zoologists have christened HOLOTHURIA. 

 It has an elongated, vermiform, or sometimes slug- 

 shaped body, enclosed in a coriaceous skin, frequently 

 containing calcareous granules or spicules. While some 

 specimens attain a length of three feet, others do not 

 exceed a few inches ; and while some are opaque, others 

 are semi-transparent. The digestive tube extends from 

 one end of the fleshy body to the other ; the mouth being 



