May.] 



BICHE-DE-MER. 



401 



quently mentioned — I mean biche-de-mer. THe learned and scientific 

 Doctor Pascalis, after I returned from this my fourth voyage, wrote an 

 article for the public papers, in which he describes it in the following 

 words : — 



" It is that mollusca from the Indian Seas which is known in com- 

 merce by the French name bouche de mer (a nice morsel from the sea). 

 If I am not much mistaken, the celebrated Cuvier calls it gasteropeda 

 pulmonifera. It is abundantly gathered in the coasts of the Pacific 

 Islands, and gathered especially for the Chinese market, where it com- 

 mands a great price, perhaps as much as their much-talked-of ' edible 

 birds' nests,' which are probably made up of the gelatinous matter 

 picked up by a species of swallow from the body of these molluscs. 

 They have no shell, no legs, nor any prominent part, except an absorb- 

 ing and an excretory, opposite organs : but by their elastic rings, like 

 caterpillars or worms, they creep in shallow waters ; in which, when 

 low, they can be seen by a kind of swallow, the sharp bill of which, 

 inserted in the soft animal, draws a gummy and filamentous substance, 

 which, by drying, can be wrought into the solid walls of their nest. 

 Hence the name of gasteropeda pulmonifera" 



This mollusca is oblong, and of different sizes, from three to eighteen 

 inches in length ; and I have seen a few that were not less than two feet 

 long. They are nearly round, a little flattish on one side, which lies 

 next the ground, or bottom of the sea ; and they are from one inch to 

 eight inches thick. They crawl up into shallow water at particular 

 seasons of the year, probably for the purpose of gendering, as we often 

 find them in pairs. It is when the sun has the most power upon the 

 water, rendering it tepid, that they approach the shore ; and often into 

 places so shallow, that on the tide's receding they are left dry on the 

 coral reef, exposed to the heat of the sun. But they do not bring forth 

 their young in shallow water, as we never see any of their progeny ; 

 and the full-grown ones are always seen coming in from deep water. 

 They feed principally on that class of zoophytes which produce the 

 coral. 



The biche-de-mer is generally taken in three or four feet water; 

 after which they are taken to the shore, where they are split at one 

 end with a knife, the incision being one inch or more, according to the 

 size of the mollusca. Through this opening the entrails are forced 

 out by pressure, and they are much like those of any other small 

 tenant of the deep. The article is then washed, and afterward boiled 

 to a certain degree, which must not be too much nor too little. They 

 are then buried in the ground for four hours ; then boiled again for a 

 short time, after which they are dried, either by the fire or the sun. 

 Those cured by the sun are worth the most ; but where one picul 

 (133^ lb.) can be cured that way, I can cure thirty picul by the 

 fire. When once properly cured, they can be kept, in a dry place, for 

 two or three years, without any risk ; but they should be examined 

 once in every few months, say four times a year, to see if any damp- 

 ness is likely to affect them. A picul, according to the Chinese 

 weight, is 1331 lb. avoirdupois. 



The Chinese, as before stated, consider biche-de-mer a very great 



Co 



