Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 107 



to be the substance which by some is considered to be a species of 

 gelidium, and by others the spawn of fish floating on the surface of 

 the sea, made use of by the Salangana, or Esculent Swallows, in 

 constructing their nests, which are so highly esteemed by the Chi- 

 nese. That appears, however, rather to be a viscous secretion of the 

 salivary glands of the mouth and stomach of the bird, which may be 

 observed hanging from its bill. The nests, as Mr. Crawford re- 

 marks, both in external appearance and consistence somewhat resem- 

 ble a fibrous ill-concocted Isinglass. At all events, the best kinds 

 are sold for about 51. 18s. l^d. per pound, and even as high as 

 4,200 Spanish Dollars per picul ; these last, therefore, are more va- 

 luable than their weight in silver. Mr. Crawford calculates that not 

 less than 242,400 lbs. of different qualities (white, black, and ordi- 

 nary) are yearly imported from the Indian Islands into China. 



Mr. Crawford, after stating that the Fisheries of the Indian Is- 

 lands form a most valuable branch of their industry, and that a great 

 variety of the fish caught are dried in the sun, proceeds' to observe 

 that " ordinary dried fish forms no portion of the foreign exports of 

 the Indian Islands, but three singular modifications of it do, Fish- 

 maws, Shark-fins , and Tripang, all of which are sent to China in 

 large quantity." The Tripang Swala, or Beche de Mar, often called 

 Sea Slug, one of the tribe of Holothurise, is an unseemly-looking 

 molluscous animal, which constitutes, in quantity and value, one of 

 the most considerable articles of the exports of the Indian Islands to 

 China. There are fisheries of Tripang in every country of the Indian 

 Archipelago, from Sumatra to New Guinea, and upwards of not 

 lees than 8,000 cwt. are yearly sent to China from Macassar. 

 The price ranging from 8 Spanish Dollars per picul to 20, and 

 as high as 115, according to the quality. The same author states, 

 that Shark -fins are exported to China from every maritime country, 

 between the Arabian Gulf and the East Indian Islands. A picul of 

 Shark-fins usually sells in China as high as 32 Spanish Dollars, or 

 at 61. Is. per cwt., which high price makes it evident, that they are 

 no more than articles of luxury for the use of the rich. In the mar- 

 ket of Macassar, the ordinary price is about 15 Spanish Dollars, or 

 21. Ids. 8±d. per cwt. 



Of the three substances mentioned by Mr. Crawford as exported 



