Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/450

 4-34- COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF the third, no more than I6OO Spanish dollars. In the Chinese markets a still nicer classification of the edible nests is often made than in the islands. The vhoIe are frequently divided into three great classes, under the commercial appellations of PaS' Icaty Chi'Jcatj and Tung-tungy each of which, ac- cording to quality, is subdivided into three infe- rior orders, and we have, consequently, prices va- rying from 1200 Spanish dollars per picul to 4200. These last, therefore, are more valuable than their weight in silver ! From these prices it is suffi- ciently evident, that the birds' nests are no more than an article of expensive luxury. They are consumed only by the great, and the best part is sent to the capital for the consumption of the court. The sensual Chinese use them, under the imagination that they are powerfully sthiiulating and tonic, but, it is probable, that their most valua- ble quality is their being perfectly haimless. The people of Japan, who so much resemble the Chi- nese in many of their habits, have no taste for the edible nests, and how the latter first acquired a taste for this foreign commodity is only less singu- lar than their persevering in it. Among the western nations there is nothing parallel to it, unless we except the whimsical estimation in which the Romans held some articles of luxury, remark- able for their scarcity rather than for any qualities ascribed to them. 4