IN THE INDIAN OCEAN AND THE EASTERN SEAS. 275 



not fit to eat. The other is scarcer, fleshy, and eatable, after it has been 

 prepared, and deprived of its sharpness. It is prepared after the follow 

 ing manner: — They first macerate them in a solution of alum for three 

 days together ; then they rub, wash, and clean it till it grows trans- 

 parent, which done, it is pickled and preserved for use. Before the in- 

 fusion, the skin is taken off, washed, pickled, and kept by itself. Some 

 of these sea-qualms are so large that two men can scarcely lift them up. 

 Pickled, as they are brought upon the table, they are of the same sub- 

 stance, colour, and taste as the edible birds'-nests brought from China •, 

 and I have been credibly informed by Chinese fishermen that these 

 birds'-nests are made of the very flesh of this animal." 



Gnapee or Nga-pee is made of prawns, shrimps, or any cheap fish, 

 pounded into a consistent mass, and frequently allowed to become 

 partially putrid. It is known in commerce by the name of Balachong, 

 and largely consumed as a condiment to rice in all the countries to the 

 east of Bengal, including the southern part of China and the islands of 

 the Eastern Archipelago. Its distribution gives rise to an extensive in- 

 ternal trade, and like the herrings and salt fish with the negro population 

 of the West Indies, it forms to the natives a palatable addition to their 

 ordinary food. To show its importance tu Pegu, gnapee to the value 

 of 142,OO0Z. was exported across the frontier into Barmah Proper in 

 the year 1861. The best balachong is said to be made in Siam, being 

 compounded of dried shrimps, pepper, salt, and seaweed beaten into 

 the consistence of a tough paste, and then packed in jars for use and 

 exportation. It is also made and exported in large quantities from 

 Sumatra. The shrimps (udang) of which they make it are very plen- 

 tiful, and there are very many varieties as udang mangkara (large 

 lobster shrimp), udang gala (long- legged shrimp), udang sumut, and 

 udang pasang, &c. 



It has been supposed that nearly a tenth of the population of China 

 derive their means of support from the fisheries. Hundreds and thousands 

 of boats crowd the whole coasts, sometimes acting in communities, 

 sometimes independent and isolated. There is no species of craft 

 by which a fish can be inveigled which is not practised with suc- 

 cess in China. Every variety of net from vast seines, embracing miles, 

 to the smallest hand-filet in the care of a child. Fishing by night and 

 fishing by day ; fishing in moonlight, by torchlight, and in utter dark- 

 ness ; fishing in boats of all sizes ; fishing by those who are stationary 

 on the rock by the sea-side, and by those who are absent for weeks on 

 the wildest of seas ; fishing by cormorants ; fishing by divers ; fishing 

 with lines, with baskets — by every imaginable decoy and device. There 

 is no river which is not staked to assist the fisherman in his craifc. 

 There is no lake, no pond, which is not crowded with fish. A piece of 

 water is nearly as valuable as a field of fertile land. At daybreak every 

 city is crowded with sellers of live fish, who carry their commodity ia 

 buckets of water, saving all they do not sell to be returned to the pond 

 or kept for another day's service, z 2 



