On East Indian Isinglass. 



177 



appears in the estuaries in shoals about the middle of 

 January, and disappears in April ; its usual size is from 3 to 4 

 feet long; about 10,000 of these fish, large and small, are 

 taken annually at Arrakan. 



The Mugs split these large fish open, and dry them in the 

 sun ; and until within the last few years threw the air vessel 

 away ; but since then, they sell this to petty dealers at from 

 sixteen to eighteen rupees a maund for the large size, but 

 twenty for the average description, and sell them again to the 

 Chinese at 30 rupees per maund. Captain Bogle adds, the 

 Chinese export the dry bladders to Penang, where they are 

 in great request, and bring, it is said, forty or fifty dollars.* 



Taking the value of the export from Bombay, as stated 

 by Dr. Heddle on the best authority on the spot as our guide, 

 the quantity annually exported from that port would be, at 

 20 rupees per maund, 1,129,520 lbs. Now we have found, that 

 for every lb. of Isinglass 100 lbs. of fish must be taken. Thus 

 supposing, as there is much reason to believe, the article 

 exported to China as shark's fins and fish maws to be chiefly 

 Isinglass, 50425 tons of fish must be taken to produce it. 

 The question therefore arises, what becomes of the fish; 

 what proportion of it is consumed fresh ; and how much of it 

 is cured ? The fishermen who in two months supplied us 

 with 75 maunds of fish sounds in December and January 

 1839-40, must have taken 250 tons of fish, not one-tenth part 

 of which we believe, was turned to any useful account, 

 Captain Bogle indeed states, that in Arrakan the Mugs split 

 the fish open and dry them in the sun, after removing the 

 air vessels, and sell four or five fishes in this state for a 

 rupee without salting, or otherwise preparing them. 



It is very much to be feared, that their method of curing 

 fish at Bombay is not much better than at Arrakan, and 

 that a vast source of prosperity and trade is thus lost not 

 only to our coasts, but particularly to the interior, where 



* Calcutta Journal of Natural History, vol. ii. p. 615. 



