Plate X.—Fishing for and curing the Holothuria in the Indian Ocean.
The habits of these animals are but little known. They inhabit the seas, and are spread over every latitude. Their very limited movements consist in a kind of reptation or crawling motion, produced by the undulations of their bodies or by the contractions of their feet. Holothurias are generally found in the act of creeping upon stones or on portions of submarine rock, but always in sheltered places, for they appear to dread the action of light. They sometimes find themselves caught by fishermen in their nets. If held in the hand they contract, their bodies become hard and rigid, and the sea water with which they are filled is ejected with force. We need not add that fishermen reject with disdain the Holothurias taken in their nets; the sea-cucumber has never been thought worthy of a place on our tables. Truth is on this side, error on that, is a maxim as true in morals as in cookery. The sea-cucumber, which Europeans disdain, is a favourite dish among the Chinese. The fishery, preparation of, and transport of these animals to market, plays an important part in the commerce and industry of the East. One rather large species, the Holothuria tubulosa, in which, by-the-bye, a singular parasite fish (Fierasfer fontanesii) lives, is common in the Mediterranean. This species is eatable, and much relished at Naples. In the Ladrone Islands Holothuria guamensis is preferred. But nowhere is it esteemed of such importance as in the Malayan and Chinese seas. In these countries, and on most of the shores of the Indian Ocean, the Holothuria edulis, vulgarly called Trepang, is eaten with delight. Thousands of junks are annually equipped for the Trepang fisheries. The Malay fishermen carry to this fishery a degree of patience and dexterity truly remarkable. Lying down in the fore part of their vessels, and holding in their hands a long bamboo, terminating in a sharp hook, their eyes, accustomed to this fishing, frequently discover the animal at a distance of not less than thirty yards, as it creeps along the surface of the submarine rocks or corals. The fisher darts his harpoon at this distance, and seldom misses his prey. When the water is shallow, that is to say, not more than four or five fathoms deep, divers are sent down to obtain these culinary monsters, who seize them in their hands, and in this manner can take five or six at a time. To prepare the fish and preserve them for transport to the markets, the Malay and Chinese fishermen boil them in water, and flatten them with stones. They are then spread out on bamboo mats to dry; first in the sun, and then by smoking them. Thus prepared, they are enclosed in sacks, and shipped to the Chinese ports, where they are particularly esteemed. This fishery takes place in the months of April and May.
In his voyage to the South Pole, Captain Dumont d'Urville, in traversing the Chinese seas, had an opportunity of assisting at this fishery, which he has described very graphically. We quote the passage in which the French navigator relates what he witnessed at this curious scene. While the ships were lying quietly at anchor, "we saw," he says, "entering the bay, four Malay proas, bearing Dutch colours, which dropped their anchors about a cable's length from Observatory Islet. The padrones or captains of these vessels soon presented their salutations, and informed me that they had started from Macassar at the end of October, with the western monsoon, and that they came to fish for Holothuria (trepang) along the coasts of New Holland, from Melville Island to the Gulf of Carpentaria, where the east wind met them and assisted their return, when they revisited all the points of the coast, anchoring in every bay where they hoped to find fish. We were in the first days of April; the east monsoon was definitively established; the Malay fishermen were returning in their circuit, and, in passing, they came to exercise their industry in Raffles' Bay. An hour after their arrival they were all at work, and the laboratory for the preparation of their fish was established within our view. The roadstead had no longer the aspect of a vast solitude: wreaths of smoke crowned the summit of Observatory Island, where, as if by enchantment, several large sheds had sprung up, while numerous vessels, supplied with divers, were proceeding to fish for Holothurias, which were passed immediately to the furnaces erected for curing them. In the course of my voyage I have often remarked little walls constructed of dry stones, consisting of several half-circles joined one to the other. I had often, but vainly, tried to discover the use of these little structures: I was now enlightened. The Malays arrived. Their boats were scarcely anchored when several large boilers, in the shape of a half-sphere, the diameter of which might be about forty inches, were placed upon the stone walls of which I have spoken, and now served as improvised furnaces. Near to them are sheds, composed of four strong posts driven into the earth, supporting roofing covered with hurdles, on which it is probably intended to dry the Holothurias. During their sojourn in this bay, the fishermen, having fine weather, made no use of these sheds, having probably only prepared them as a precaution.
"A crowd of men actively employed in establishing their laboratories gave an unaccustomed appearance to the bay, which could not fail to attract the savage inhabitants of the main land. Very soon, indeed, we could see them hastening from all sides, and nearly all reached the little island, either by swimming or wading through the sheet of shallow water which separates it from the main land. I only saw one pirogue, made of the bark of a tree badly put together, which gave a passage to three of these visitors. When night arrived, the Malays had finished all their preparations; some of them remained to guard what they had left on shore, all the others returned to their boats.
"In the interval, a boat from the Astrolabe being wanted to carry some visitors from the island, I profited by the occasion to visit one of the proas, accompanied by M. Roquemauel. We were received with much politeness, and even cordiality, by the captain or padrone of the boats. He showed us over his little ship. The keel appeared to us sufficiently solid; even the lines did not want elegance; but great disorder seemed to reign in the stowage department. From a kind of bridge, formed by hurdles of bamboos and junk, we saw the cabin, which looked like a poultry-house; bags of rice, packets, and boxes were huddled together. Below was the store of water, of cured trepang, and the sailors' berths. Each boat was furnished with two rudders, one at each end, which lifted itself when the boat touched the bottom. The craft was furnished with two masts, without shrouds, which could be lowered on to the bridge at will by means of a hinge; they carry the ordinary sail; the anchors are of wood, for iron is rarely used by the Malays; their cables are made of ratan fibre; the crew of each bark consists of about thirty-seven, each shore-boat having a crew of six men. At the moment of our visit they were all occupied in fishing operations, some of them being anchored very near to us. Seven or eight of their number, nearly naked, were diving for trepang; the padrone alone was unoccupied. An ardent sun darted his rays upon their heads without appearing to incommode them, an exposure which no European could hold up under. It was near mid-day, and the moment, as our Malay captain assured us, most favourable for the fishing. In fact, we saw that each diver returned to the surface with at least one animal, and sometimes two, in his hands. It appears that the higher the sun is above the horizon, the more easily is the creature distinguished at the bottom. The divers were so rapid in their movements, that they scarcely touched the boat, into which they threw the animals, before they dived again. When the boat was filled with them, it proceeded to the shore, and its place was supplied by an empty one. I followed one of these, to witness the process of curing which they adopted.
"The Holothuria of Raffles' Bay is from five to six inches long and about two in diameter; it is a gross fleshy mass, somewhat cylindrical in form, but no external organ is visible. The mollusc glues itself to the rocks at the bottom of the sea, and, as it can only move very slowly, the Malay divers seize it readily. The greatest merit of a fisherman is to have a practised eye, to distinguish the animal at the bottom, and to dive directly to the spot where it lies. To preserve them, the fishermen throw them, while still living, into a cauldron of boiling sea water, where they are stirred about by means of a long pole, which is supported upon another pole fixed in the earth, but having a forked end, which acts as a lever. In this process the trepang gives up all the water it contains, and is withdrawn at the end of two minutes. A man armed with a large knife now extracts the entrails, and it is thrown into a second cauldron, having only a small quantity of water, seasoned with mimosa bark. The object of this second operation is to smoke the animal in order to preserve it the better, for the bark is consumed in the process. The trepang is now placed upon hurdles and dried in the sun. When sufficiently dried, it is stowed away in the hold of the proa.
"It was about two o'clock in the afternoon when the divers ceased their labours and came ashore. My tent was soon surrounded. I recognized the captain of the proa among those who had previously visited me. He approached and examined all the instruments used in the Observatory with great attention, seeking to discover their use. I showed him a gun with percussion cap, which astonished him greatly, especially when I pointed out to him its great superiority over the flint-lock. He assured me that these arms were still unknown in the Celebes, his country; but he failed to convince me of that. He questioned me as to the places we had visited, and where we were going. I endeavoured to sketch a map of New Holland, New Zealand, and New Guinea upon a leaf. He then took my pencil, and added to it the Indian Archipelago, the coasts of China and Japan, and the Philippine Islands. Surprised in my turn, I asked him if he had visited all these places. He replied in the negative; but added that he knew their position perfectly, and could easily take his vessel to any of them. Finally, the interview terminated by his asking for a glass of arrack. I do not know if this intelligent Malay professed the Mahometan religion, but I do know that he drank half a bottle of wine and a quarter of a pint of arrack without being at all the worse for it. He then offered me some prepared trepang, inviting me to taste it, which I did; to me it appeared to resemble the lobster in taste. My men liked it, and thankfully accepted the captain's offer; for my part, I felt an utter repugnance even to taste it.
"According to the account I had from the Malay captain, the price of trepang in the Chinese markets was fifteen rupees, about thirty shillings the pekoul, or a hundred and twenty-five pounds. He estimated his cargo to be worth about a hundred and twenty pounds. The fishing had occupied him and his crew three months. From the earliest times this commerce has belonged exclusively to the Malay fishermen, and it will always be difficult for Europeans to compete with them. The Malay vessels are equipped on the most economical principle, and the men are wanting neither in sobriety, intelligence, or activity.
