THE BIRDS'-NEST CAVES 



you see so-and-so," you are more or less disappointed 

 in the end. The descriptions of the marvels ahead 

 have, so to speak, taken the edge off your sensations. 

 But this was not the case with me when I reached the 

 Gomanton caves. Intensely interesting as they are 

 from a naturaHst's point of view — and I was there, 

 primarily, as a naturalist — I can quite understand them 

 making a strong appeal to the mere tourist in search of 

 " things to look at." Then, too, of course, there is 

 the element of romance. What child was ever taught 

 that the Chinese ate birds'-nest soup and forgot the 

 fact? What boy does not know that the pirates of 

 the China Seas regarded a junk laden with precious 

 nests as the richest of all prizes ? Yes, look at them 

 from what point of view you will, even from the 

 unromantic point of view of the merchant, the 

 Gomanton caves repay one for the trouble of reaching 

 them. 



The first entrance, which is, so to speak, on the 

 ground level, is about four times the size of an 

 ordinary railway tunnel. When we reached it, the 

 swiftlets, which make the famous nests, were flying in 

 and out in swarms with lightning-Hke rapidity. One 

 glance showed me that there was no chance of taking 

 satisfactory photographs then, so I cUmbed up some 

 hundred and fifty feet to the next entrance, which 

 is much smaller, about as large as the mouths of two 

 railway tunnels placed side by side. The floor slopes 



35 



