The south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1879-1883, 1883-10-09
Edible. Birds Nests.

Edible. Birds Nests.
Edible birds nests are shipped in
large quantities from Java to China
and the Eastern islands for food. The
birds that build them are a species
of swallow, and they are found in
cliffs, caves and caverns. They are
composed Of sort of mucilaginous
substance which the Chinese relish
with gusto. 1t is transparent mass
like isinglass, mother-of-pearl or
white horn. The stuff is made by
the bird, who. when you open the
bill, has large salivary glands under.
his tongue which supply the materi-
al. The men who hunt these nests
are a daring and peculiar set. They
have goddess called Loro who is
worshipped by them, and a. temple
at place called Rongkop, on the
summit of q tall rock. No mortal
lives here, and none pass by without
raising their hands in grave saluta-
ton. 1t is death for anyone to 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
temple when the season commences,
and then a feast is given in her hon
or, 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 goes to work he takes his
place on a stage of two cross bars
fastened to the end of rope, and is
let down against the face of the rock.
He grasps the rope with his left hand,
and in his right has 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 fly
ing all around MIN. When he comes
opposite a safangan hole CHATS the
name of the bird) he makes signal,
and the lowering stops. lie now
swings back and forth until he gels
power enough to enter the hole and
find footing on the rock she ha
noted. If he fails, he is dashed to
pieces on the rocks below. The man
generally has n thin cord fastened
around his body and to. the rope, so
that he can pull the stage in to him
self 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 ii 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 Clutch mer-
chants once entered cave, but they
never came out alive, and the Malays
have a story that the goddess Loro
''took them to her BOSOM These
swallows breed four times a year,
each time making new nest. The
nests are plucked three times, and so
only one brood is left TO the birds. In
the cavern of Karang-Collong, l
have heard it stated, there were three
hundred and thirty thousand swal-
lows, and from them about five hun
dred thousand nests are
annually taken. The harvest is done
in July and August, Move mber and
December, and the worst in April
and May. The nests are cleaned and
assorted and packed in bamboo cases
of about seventy in a case. They all
90 to China, perhaps few to Ameri-
ca and Europe as buriosities; one
hundred and seventy thousand
pounds go to Canton alone, and
about fifty bird nests make pound.
The first quality of nests cost in the
cities of China twenty to thirty dol
lars a pound"
"How are they eaten!,'
"They dissolve the nests in water
or broth, and spice them highly, us
, ing them as an entree. You'll find 1t
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
e was entertained on them at Canton.
t The Chinese think they are great
!, stimulant, but some German chemists
a say that they have no stimulating
+ qualities, and are nothing more than
v tho saliva of the animals, neither
nomishing nor stimulating, but aw-
: full sticky .n--From Interview In Cin-
O cinuati Inquirer.
y Mo4hers Don't Know.