58 
EDIBLE SWALLOW NESTS. 
customed to this employment, never undertake their 
labour till they have slaughtered a buffalo, as a pro- 
pitiatory sacrifice, which is the usual preparation 
made by the Javanese for all their undertakings. 
On such occasions they mutter over a few prayers, 
anoint themselves with aromatic oils, and fumigate 
the holes with sweet smelling substances, which they 
conceive to he charms against accident. 
At the chief of these caverns, in the island of 
Java, a protecting female deity is worshipped, 
under the name of Princess of the Southern Sea. 
A small hut, with a covered sleeping-place, is 
there appropriated for her, together with various 
elegant articles of dress, which none under the rank 
of a princess can wear; and every Friday, when 
the nests are taken down, incense is continually 
burnt, and the body and clothes of every one who 
intends to ascend the rocks must be exposed to it. 
To afford them light in the cavern, they use torches 
made of the resinous gum of a large tree. 
The collecting of these nests continues no longer 
than a month, and, as already mentioned, may be 
repeated three times in the year. Some believe that 
it may be done a fourth time; but this is not pro- 
bable, as all experienced people brought up to this 
employment confidently assert, that a nest, as long 
as it remains entire, is continually enlarged by the 
bird, or made thicker, until it is entirely deserted by 
her, when it becomes dry or hairy in the inside. 
When the nests have been collected, no further trouble 
is necessary than to dry and clean them ; after which 
they are put in baskets, and sold to the Chinese. 
The price of them depends on their whiteness and 
