112 The Commercial Products of the Sea. 



on, so as to prevent the rain from penetrating. The sides 

 are likewise covered in with these mats, and a small door 

 should be left in each end. Platforms, or batters, for drying 

 the slug on, are then erected along one side of the house. 

 They should run the whole length, and be about eight feet in 

 breadth ; the lower one about breast-high from the ground, 

 and the upper three feet above that. The frames are generally 

 made of cocoa-nut trees, or pandanus, and covered with 

 two or three layers of split bamboo, or reeds, seized close, 

 so as to form a sort of network for the slugs to lay on. 

 Much care and skill is required in the construction of these 

 batters, or platforms, so as to prevent the beche-de-mer from 

 burning, which it would be liable to, were they not properly 

 fitted. A trench, about six feet in breadth and two feet 

 in depth, is then dug the whole length of the batters for the 

 fires. Tubs are placed at short distances along the side of 

 the trench, filled with salt water, and a good supply of 

 buckets 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 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 trepang, the fires are lighted, and the drying process 

 commences. From this time the fires must be kept con- 

 stantly 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 slugs shifted to the upper batter, having been first 

 examined, and splints of wood put into those which may 



