294 SWALLOW. 



half an ounce, and in shape like half a lemon, or rather a small 

 saucer, with one side flattened, where it adheres to the rock, in tex- 

 ture not unlike isinglass, or rather fine gum tragacanth, and the 

 several layers of the component matter very apparent, arising from 

 repeated application of a soft slimy substance, in much the same 

 manner as the Martins form theirs from mud. Authors differ much 

 as to the materials from which it is formed ; some suppose it to be 

 that of the sea worms of the mollusca class,* others of the sea qualm, 

 a kind of cuttle fish.f It has also been supposed that they rob other 

 birds of their eggs, and after breaking the shells, apply the white of 

 them for the purpose. The best nests, which are free from dirt, are 

 dissolved in broths and soups by way of thickening them, and are 

 said to afford an exquisite flavour; % of the black, or dirty ones, they 

 make glne.§ 



These nests are found in vast numbers in certain caverns in various 

 Islands in the Soolo Archipelago, || situated between longitude 117. 

 and 120. latitude 5. and 7. particularly in three small Isles, or 

 rather rocks; in the caverns of which the nests are fixed to the 

 sides in astonishing numbers. They are also found in amazing quan- 

 tities on a small Island called Toe, in the Straits of Sunda, the 

 caverns of which are lined with with the nests, but no where in 

 greater abundance than about Croee, near the south end of Sumatra, 



* Osbeck. f Kcempf. Jap. p. 137. or a gelatinous sea plant called Agal Agal ; 



but if the materials of which it is composed belong to the Mollusca tribe, it may probably 

 be a Swalloo, or Sea Slug, found in those parts, and is a Species of Actinia. This is found 

 in plenty on the sandy bottom, in the neighbourhood of the Coral Rocks, each weighing 

 about half a pound, and the capture of it maintains many fishermen, and their families. 

 On being taken it is dried in the smoke, and the best sort sold to the Chinese at 40 dollars 

 the pecul, who use it in their savoury dishes as a dainty. 



% As to the nests, they are soaked in water to soften, and then pulled into pieces, and 

 after being mixed with Ginseng, they are put into the body of a Fowl, and the whole stewed 

 in a pot, with a sufficient quantity of water, and left on the coals all night ; and in the morn- 

 ing it is fit to be eaten. — Voy. de Siam, i. 279. 



§ Marsden's Sumatra, 141. Said to be found in abundance in the Javanese Mountains, 

 and an article of commerce in China. — Thunb. Trav.W. 287. || Forrest. 



