BY THE REV. J. E. TENISON-WOODS. 43 



" The village which most applies itself to the whale-fishing is 

 Lamakera, on the north-east part of the island of Solor, and lying 

 within the Strait. It is the largest, most prosperous and most 

 populous. The four other Mahomedan villages are Layayong, 

 Andanara, Lamahala and Trong, which three last are situated on 

 the island Andanara" (p. 66). 



Oysters. — Oysters, which the Malays call "Teran"and "Siput," 

 (though Siput seems to apply to a shell-fish generally) and which 

 the Chinese name Hao or Hau or Hau-mau-lai, are gathered and 

 sold in the Straits. I have tasted some which the Chinese had 

 brought to Durian Sabatang, Perak, about 40 miles from the 

 mouth of the river, and where the water was only slightly brackish. 

 The shell-fish were of pretty large size, and brown in color, but 

 utterly tasteless. I believe this is true of all the oysters in the 

 Straits of Malacca. Owing to the large quantity of fresh water, 

 the shells are very thin and poor and much affected by the Poly- 

 dora worm (See Dr. Has well's note on a destructive oyster 

 Parasite in Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. Vol. X., p. 273.) 



The Chinese never eat oysters in a raw state, thinking them too 

 cold for the stomach. They fry them with oil and rice flour. I 

 believe they have a method of drying them also. The oysters are 

 taken from their shells and scalded just enough to harden the 

 tissues, and then dried in the sun. But rock-oysters, for some 

 unknown reason, cannot be so preserved. They are grown or 

 cultivated, and the mode of culture is of two kinds, producing the 

 Shihao, or Hock oyster, and Bamboo oysters, Yu-tzu-hao. 



Rock-oysters are cultivated thus : — pieces of stone are laid at 

 short intervals, at low tide, on the mud banks or mangrove 

 islands, where oysters have been observed. Localities are chosen 

 where the current is strong, and where the influence of the tide 

 permits the stones to be uncovered for at least three or four hours. 

 When I enquired as to the reason for this, I was told that other- 

 wise the mud would destroy the molluscs. Very shortly after the 

 stones are placed in position they are covered with young oysters, 

 which grow to full size in six months. They are then taken from 



