PRESERVATION OF FISHERY PRODUCTS FOR FOOJR 
419 
were liberal, no trouble was experienced in obtaining large supplies. The sea-slugs, still alive and 
fresh, were thrown into the kettles and boiled a certain length of time, but as to the composition of 
the liquid in which they were cooked, my informant could not tell me. Then they were taken out, 
the outer rough skin rubbed off, and the body split with a knife, after which tlie intestines were 
removed and tlie body spread on canvas in tlie sun to dry. Tlie next operation aiter drying, and the 
final one, was to smoke them. This was done in a smokehouse of the ordinary kind, in which they 
were susiiended on slats. After the final process the trepang were packed in bales, covered with 
sacking, and shipped to New York, where they were probably reshipped to China. For two seasons 
(winters) this industry was kept up, and apparently with much success; but at the close of the 
second season the houses and apparatus were sold, and the operator left Key West. Since then 
nothing further has been attempted in the trepang industry there.* 
Trepaiigs are abiiudant oa several other portions of the United States coast, and 
especially so on the northwest coast and among the Alexander Islands, and there 
seems no reason why these supplies should not be utilized and an industry of consid- 
erable importance developed. 
The following description of the method of curing trepangs among the East 
Indies is from The Commercial Products of the Sea, by P. L. Simmonds: 
The first thing to be done on arrival at an island where the slug is plentiful is to erect on shore 
a large curing-house about 90 feet in length, 30 feet in breadth, and about 10 feet high. These houses 
are generally built of island materials and thatched with mats of cocoanut leaves; this thatch must 
be well put on, so as to prevent the rain from penetrating. The sides are likewise covered Avith these 
mats, and a small door should be left in each end. Platforms for drying the slugs are then erected 
along one side of the house. They should run the whole length and be about 8 feet in breadth, 
the lower one about breast-high from the ground, and the upper 3 feet above that. The frames are 
generally made of cocoanut trees and covered with two or three layers of split bamboo or reeds, sized 
close so as to form a sort of network for the slugs to lie on. Much care and skill is required in the 
construction of these platforms, so as to prevent the beche de mer from burning. A trench about 6 
feet in breadth and 2 feet in depth is then dug the whole length of the platforms for the fires. Tubs 
filled with salt water are placed at short distances along the side of the trench and a 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 slugs. 
The process of curing is this: The bbche 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 platform, where it is spread out (about 5 inches thick) to dry. The trench is 
then filled with firewood, and when the platform is full of trepang the fires are lighted and the drying 
process commences. From this time the fires must be kept constantly going day and night, with a 
regular watch to attend to them. On the afternoon of the following day the fires are extinguished for 
a short time and the slugs shifted to the upper platform, having been first examined, and splints of 
wood put into those which may not be drying properly. When this is done, the lower platform is 
again filled from the pots, the fires immediately lighted, and the drying process continued as before. 
The slugs on the lower platform must be turned frequently during the first 12 hours. On the second 
day (the fires having been extinguished as before) the slugs on the upper platform are shifted close 
over to one end to make room for those on the lower platform again, and so on as before for the two 
following days, by which time the first day’s produce will be properly cured. It is then taken off the 
platform, and, after having been carefully examined, and those not dry put up again, the quantity 
cured is sent on board the vessel and stowed away in bags. But should the ship be long in procuring 
a cargo it will require to be dried over again every three months in the sun, on platforms erected 
over the deck, as it soon gets damp, unless when packed in air-tight casks. 
If the bfeche de mer is plentiful and the natives bring it daily in large quantities, 40 men will 
be requisite to perform the work of a house of the above size, and the pots will want two hands to 
attend them. These curing-houses consume a large quantity of firewood daily. When biiche de mer 
is cured and stowed away great care should be taken to prevent it from getting wet, as one damp 
slug will speedily spoil a whole bag. 
* Fishery Industries of the United States, sec. v, vol. 2, jqi. 815-81G. 
