Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/449

 ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 433 of which I superintended a moiety of the collec- tion for several years, are those of Karang-holang, in the province of Baglen, on the south coast of the island. Here the caves are only to be ap- proached by a perpendicular descent of many hun- dred feet, by ladders of bamboo and rattan, over a sea rolling violently against the rocks. When the mouth of the cavern is attained, the perilous office of taking the nests must often be performed with torch- light, by penetrating into recesses of the rock, when the slightest trip would be instantly fatal to the adventurers, who see nothing below them but the turbulent surf making its way into the chasms of the rock. The only preparation which the birds' nests un- dergo is that of simple drying, without direct ex- posure to the sun, after which they are packed in small boxes, usually of half a picul. They are as- sorted for the Chinese market into three kinds, ac- cording to their qualities, distinguished into /irst, or best, second^ and third qualities. Caverns that are regularly managed will afford in 100 parts 53^ parts of those of the first quality, S5 parts of those of the second, 11/- parts of those of the third. The common prices for birds* nests at Canton are, for the first sort, 3500 Spanish dollars the picul, or L. 5, 18s. l^d. per pound j for the se- cond, 2800 Spanish dollars per picul ; and, for VOL. IIL E E