THE BECHE DE MER OR TRIPANG IN THE PACIFIC. 43 



kept in readiness, to prevent the fires from blazing up and burning the 

 fish, or platforms, as well as to regulate the degree of heat necessary for 

 drying the slug. 



The process of curing is this : — The beche de mer is first gutted, then 

 boiled in those large pots ; and, after being well washed in fresh water, 

 carried into the curing-house, in small tubs, or baskets, and emptied on the 

 lower batter, where it is spread out (about five inches thick) to dry. The 

 trench is then filled with firewood, and when the batter is full of fish, the 

 fires are lighted, and the drying process commences. From this time the 

 fires must be kept constantly going, day and night, with a careful officer 

 and regular watch to attend to it. On the afternoon of the following day 

 the fires are extinguished for a short time, and the fish shifted to the upper 

 batter, having been first examined, and splints of wood put into those which 

 may not be drying properly. When this is done, the lower batter is again 

 filled from the pots, the fires immediately lighted, and the drying process 

 continued as before. The fish on the lower baiter must be turned frequently 

 during the first twelve hours. On the second day (the fires having been 

 extinguished as before) the slug on the upper batter is shifted close over to 

 one end, to make room for those on the lower batter again ; and so on, as 

 before, for the two following days, by which time the first day's fish will 

 be properly cured. It is then taken off the batter, and, after having been 

 carefully examined, and those not dry put up again, the quantity cured is 

 sent on board the vessel, and stowed away in bags. But should the ship 

 be long in procuring a cargo, it will require to be dried over again every 

 three months, in the sun, on platforms erected over the deck, as it soon 

 gets damp, unless when packed in air-tight casks. 



If the beche de mer is plentiful, and the natives bring it daily in large 

 quantities, forty men will be requisite to perform the work of a house of 

 the above size ; and the pots will want two hands to attend them. 

 These curing-houses consume a large quantity of firewood daily. When 

 beche de mer is cured, and stowed away, great care should be taken to pre- 

 vent it from getting wet, as one damp fish will speedily spoil a whole bag. 



In conclusion, I may remark, that the process of curing the slug properly, 

 is so difficult, and requires so much experience, that none but those who 

 have been for years engaged in the trade would ever succeed in doing it. 



A writer in the Nautical Magazine furnishes the following information 

 on this subject : — 



" The different varieties of this animal, which are very numerous among 

 the eastern islands, have not yet been specifically separated by naturalists. 

 Lamarck has described the whole as Priapulus caudatus (Hist. Nat. III., 

 p. 77). The two specimens of beche de mer which are found upon the 

 coast of New Holland, wherefore the Malays call it ' Trepan marega,' — 

 marega being their name for the northern coast — are of inferior quality to 

 what are found in the Eastern Archipelago. The better quality, the batu, 

 is of a black colour, and is found in deep water ; the other is of a grey or 

 sandy hue, and is called 'passir' (sandy). The best kind is procured 



