Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-09-28
Edible Birds Nest,

Edible birds nests are sh;,l -
large quantities from Java to Cb;pa .nd
the Eastern islands for food. Tha h;rJs
that build them are species of swallow,
and they are found in cliffs. caves and
cayerns: They are composed Of 4 sort
OF mucilaginous substance which the
Chinese relish with gusto. Its atrans-
parent mass IKE isinglass, mother-of-
pearl or white horn The stuff il made
by the bird, who. when you omen the
bill. has large salivary glands under his
tongue which supply the material The
men who hunt these nests are a daring
and peculiar set. They have a goddess
called Loro who is worshiped by them.
and temple at a place called Rono.
kop, on the summit of tall rock No
mortal lives here, and none mass Inv
without raising their hands in grave
salutation. 1t is death for anv ono n
enter except the chief of the society of
nest-pickers, who fills the Office Of
priest. The goddess is supposed TO
arise from the sea and go into the tenn
pie when the season commences. and
then feast is given in her honor. music
and dancing girls being in attendance.
The nest-gatherers have nothing but a
cloth about their loins, a knife and a
net bag at their side. When one ooes
to work he takes his place on a STAGE of
two crOss-bars fastened to the end IF a
rope, and is let down against the face
of the rock. He grasps the rome with
his left hand, and in his right has a rod
with which he holds himself off from
the rocks. Sometimes he goes down
several hundred feet amid the roar OF
the ocean and hundreds of birds fiyino
all around him. When he comes oppo,
site salangan hole CHATS the name OF
the bird) he makes a signal, and the
lowering stops. He now swings back
and forth until he gets power enough to
enter the hole and find footing on the
rock he has noted. If he fails, he is
dashed to pieces on the rocks below.
The man generally has a thin cord fast
ened around his body and to the
rope, so that he can pull the stage in to
himself again. Should this break, how.
ever, he has to make bold leap and
catch the stage. When he has got into
the cavern he cuts off the nests with his
knife and places them in his bag, and
when it Is full he returns and his place
is supplied by another. This business
is so exclusive that no foreigner has
ever been allowed to participate in it.
Some Dutch merchants once entered
cave, but they never came out alive, and
the Malays have story that the Goddess
Loro "took them to her bosom" These
swallows breed four times year, each
time making a new nest. The nests
are plucked three times, and so only
one brood is left to the birds. In the
cavern of Karang-C ollong, / have heard
1t stated, there were three hundred and
thirty thousand swallows, and from
them about five hundred thousand nests
are annually taken. The harvest is done
in July and August, November and De-
ceber, and the worst in April and Nav.
The nests are cleaned and assorted and
packed in bamboo cases of about seven
ty in n case. They all go to China,
perhaps few to America and Europe
as curiOsities; one hundred and seventy
thousand pounds 90 to Canton alone.
and about fifty bird nests make
pound. The first quality of nests cost
in the cities of China twenty to thirty
dollars pound"
''HOw are they eaten?'
They dissolve the nests in water or
broth, and spice them highly, using
them rs an entree. You'll find it a
dish among all the wealthy Chinese,
and at all the Royal and State enter
tainmentS. Why, when General Grant
made his tour of the world he was en-
tertained on them at Canton. The
Chinese think they are q great stimu-
liant, but some German chemists say
that they have no stimulating qualities.
and are nothing more than the saliva OF
animals, neither nourishing nor stimu-
lating, but awful sticky. From Inter-
riehD IN Cincinnati Ennnircr