Bangkolungan, when captured, is from 11 to 15 inches in length, of an oval form, brown on the back, white on the belly, incrusted with chalk, and with a row of papillæ or warts along the side. This species is hard, stiff, and possesses hardly any means of progression beyond expanding and contracting at will. They are found on the inner edge of the coral reef in coral-sandy ground, under water of from 2 to 10 fathoms, and are difficult to get at without diving. Kiskisan is from 6 to 12 inches long, oval, very black, smooth on the back, dark grey belly, and with a row of papillæ along its side. This description is found in shallow water near the highest portion of the reef, and on a bottom of coral and sand. Talipan varies in length from 9 inches to 2 feet, and is the most peculiar-looking of all the Trepang species. This sort is found in all parts of the reef, but chiefly in water of from 2 to 3 fathoms. It is of a dark red colour, and less bulky than either of the sorts already described. The back is covered with large red spots, which readily distinguish it from all other species. It is more flexible than the black sort, and more difficult to prepare. Munang is oval, small, quite black, and rarely measures above
eight inches in length. It has neither warts nor other excrescences, and is found in shallow water on the coral flats, and frequently also among the sea-tangle along the shore. It is this sort which the Americans usually catch at the Fee-jee Islands. In the Chinese markets, a picul of Munang is worth 15 to 25 dollars. Besides these four principal species, there are a variety of less valuable descriptions, such as Zapatos-China, Lowlowan, Balati-blanco, Matan, Hangenan, and Zapatos-Grande.
In order to prepare these four sorts of Trepang for commerce, they are first soaked in a large iron kettle for from 5 to 10 minutes in boiling water, and when thoroughly heated through, are taken out. The portion of the animal which is cut off, when well boiled, should be of an amber colour tinged with blue, and feel somewhat like Indian rubber.
A certain degree of dexterity and practice are requisite for boiling Trepang to the proper point and afterwards drying it. While it becomes puffed out through too sudden an application of heat, and porous like sponge, too low a temperature or too short a time destroys it on the other hand, and in 24 hours it becomes quite tainted. Trepang dried in the sun is more valuable than that dried on the island, nor does the native ever care for those he dries over his wood fire. Probably the former mode of preparing it would not pay for a ship, since at least twenty days are necessary to
dry Trepang in the sun, whereas over a wood fire the same end is attained in four days.
On the whole, the precautions requisite properly to prepare Trepang are so manifold and require such an expenditure of time, that only those who for years have been exclusively devoted to the business can secure a successful result. Consequently the trade is exceedingly remunerative, and numbers of captains have within a very few years realized a competency and even affluence by preparing Trepang for the Chinese market.
We employed our time, when sailing back to the island of Fáole, in finishing a small vocabulary of the language in use by the inhabitants of the Stewart Island group, which we accomplished with the last stroke of the oar that brought our heavily-laden boat back to Fáole, where the rest of our companions already anxiously awaited our return. We had occasion to remark with surprise the perseverance and readiness of comprehension of one native named Károsi, to whose assistance we are entirely indebted for the preparation of this vocabulary.
After a stay of about four hours on the island, we returned to the ship about 4.30 P.M., and by sundown were again under weigh for Sydney.[203] If the inhabitants of the Solomon group
were the most savage race of men we encountered throughout our cruise, these amiable Sikayanese left on us the impression of being the most moral and peacefully disposed race of aborigines that we became acquainted with, and even to this day the few fleeting but highly suggestive hours we spent with these primitive people are among the most singular, yet delightful, on which memory rests, when recalling the incidents of our circumnavigation.[204]
A fresh breeze hurried us rapidly to the southward during the 18th, but we soon entered once more upon the region of