The Iola register., 1883-09-28
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 species of swallow,
and they are found in cliffs, caves and
caverns. They are composed of a sort
of mucilaginous substance which the
Chinese relish with gusto. tits trans
parent 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 material. The
men who hunt these nests are daring
and peculiar set. They have goddess
called Loro who is wOrshiped by them,
and temple at place called Rong-
kop, on the summit of tall rock. No
mortal lives here, and none pass by
without raising their hands in grave
salutation. 1t Is death for any one 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 tenn
pie when the season commences, and
then feast is given in her honor, music
and dancing girls being in attendance.
i
cloth about their loins, knife and
net bag at their side. When one goes
to work he takes his place on stage OF
two cross-bars fastened to the end of a
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 rosr of
the ocean and hundreds of birds flying
all around him. When he comes oppo-
site salangan hole CHATS the name Of
the bird) he makes 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 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 a bold leap and
catch the stage. When he has got into
the cavern he cuts off the nests with lis
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 a story that the Goddess
Loro "took them to her BOSOM" These
swallows breed four times 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, have heard
it 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 May.
The nests are cleaned and assorted and
packed in bamboo cases of about seven
ty in case. They all go to China,
perhaps a 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 a pound"
"How are they eaten?'
"They dissolve the nests in water or
broth, and spice them highly, using
them as an entree. You'll find it q
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 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 st;slu-
lating, but awful sticky" ."-Froah Inter-
vieU in Cincinnati Enquirer.