166 
LETTERS FROM 
They are very disagreeble in appearance, 
and though not easily affected by such ope¬ 
rations, I found the dissection of a very 
* «/ 
large holothuria the most disgusting job I 
had ever been engaged in. Animals of this 
genus, and very similar in appearance to 
those I have described, are a common ar¬ 
ticle of food with the Chinese. They are found 
in great numbers on the shores of some of 
the South Sea Islands, where they are col¬ 
lected and salted, and the demand is so 
considerable, that many vessels are employed 
in the trade. 
Having heard that shells w^ere to be found 
in a bay, called Marsa Scala, which lies 
three or four miles south-east of Valetta, 
one morning before sunrise we set off' in a 
boat for a long day’s excursion. We dredged 
for some time in Marsa Scala and in St. 
Thomas’s Bay, but found no shells; and 
