242 THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST. 



stances of the fishing-station, it is dried in the sun 

 or on stages by means of fires made of wood, placed 

 under them. It is a most important article of com- 

 merce. There are fisheries, as they are called, of 

 Trepang (the name by which this edible is distin- 

 guished) in every island of the Eastern Archipelago, 

 from Sumatra to New Guinea. The whole quantity 

 sent to China from Macassar and other parts may be 

 estimated at 14,000 piculs, or in money at about 

 119,000, an estimate from which the reader may 

 learn how numerously these creatures occur in tro- 

 pical seas. 



" On a reef of rocks near the island Raiatea is a 

 huge, unshapely, black or brown slug, here called 

 ' Biche,' from six to seven inches long and five to six 

 broad. It is caught in vast quantities, and not only 

 regarded as a great delicacy by the natives, but, being 

 cured, has become a valuable article of commerce to 

 the China market, whither it is carried from many 

 insular coasts of the Pacific by American ships. We 

 have seen a number of lads fill three canoes in two 

 hours with these ' Sea-snails'*"." 



Mr. Beale speaks of the " Beche de Mer," found at 

 Oahoo, one of the Sandwich Islands, being considered 

 as a great delicacy, though "almost as tough as 

 caoutchouc t ." 



It would be beyond our province upon the present 

 occasion to describe the complicated anatomy of the 

 interior of these remarkable creatures ; whoever wishes 



* Tyerman and Bennet, " Voy. and Trav. in the South. Sea 

 Islands." 



f " Natural History of the Sperm Whale," p. 261. 



