1 r el tt's prffulfi^J fca theVs when meeting' with peofiteT It is 

 snid, that when domeBticatedj it will drive away noxious iri- 

 fluences, prevent the calamity of fire, and exterminate while 

 ants. The Dutch and the Chinese Captains arc fond of 

 breeding them in their paries and garden a. 



TOriTOEaS-SIIELL. 



The form of the animal from whence thii subs lance is 

 taken ia like that of the common lonoiaCj having on its back 

 twelve plates ; which arc detached in the following manner. 

 The tortoise ia suspended with ila head downw^arda, its 

 back is moistened wiUi vinegar, avtd fire is applied, when ihe 

 plates of the lortoiae-fhcll ftill off. The plates firsi detached 

 are esteemed of prisne quality, and fetch a high price. Should 

 ihe animal now be let go into the aca, ia a year's time the 

 shell will be reprodueed, when if taken it muat be scorched 

 again, but the platea will b« thinner and softer, and are thus 

 called second sort, fetching a lower price in the market. 

 Those pieces of l03rtoiae-9 hell in which the biack spots are 

 fewest arc considered the best, whilt^ those which are clear 

 and white are very valuable ; but the latter are rare, and sel- 

 dom obtained. 



a'KTPANGs OR ^ CECHE DF, MF-R. 



Tripang is a ilug found in the aea, of an oblong shape; 

 when first caught it ia nearly a foot long, and as soft as 

 cotton ; but boiled in a solution of alunii and afterwards 

 dried in the enn, it contracts to about two or three 

 inches in length. U is founc' in deep water, amr»ng rotks ; 

 and the deeper the water, Jie finer and more plentiful the 

 tripang. There is a large variety of thi^ apecies, having 

 different names and futin?, but the beet are the '^J ^ prick- 

 ly tripang, and the crape trip*rig. 



THE .^UCKINO FISe, OK £[] ^ SIGNET FlSH, 



Resembled a niiid-fish in form, with aonielliing on ila fore- 

 head like n pig s snout , when caught and brought on board 



