ery much at its
ease. Another little bird was standing watching its nest. We supposed
therefore that its young had been hatched; and as they were in an
inaccessible part of the cliff, we hoped they would escape the
Chinaman's grasp.

As we had given a good price for the first nests, the Chinese willingly
sold us another dozen, with which, wishing them a successful
bird's-nesting expedition, we returned on board the _Dugong_. The
Malays assert that the bird feeds upon insects and other minute
creatures floating on the surface of the sea; and on further examining
the nests, we perceived long filaments resembling very fine vermicelli,
coiled one part over the other, without any regularity, and glued
together by transverse rows of the same material. Mr Hooker told us
that the trade in birds' nests employs a large amount of capital and
men. However, the loss of life arising from accidents and exposure is
very great. It has been asserted that, on an average, two out of every
five men employed in bird's-nesting meet with a violent death. In China
a "_catty_" or one pound and a quarter English, of the best nests, sells
at about 9 pounds sterling. Their value depends chiefly upon their
translucent whiteness. Those which have not been lined or used by the
birds obtain the highest prices.

Frau Ursula made a small dish of a few of the birds' nests, which, when
first put before us, were perfectly tasteless. When, however, she had
added certain seasoning, it was pronounced as delicate as any food could
be. The Chinese use them chiefly for thickening their soups and
ragouts.

The sea-swallow is found along the northern coast of Australia, as well
as on the rocks and islands of the sea which we were now navigating. A
large number of Chinese junks come every year to procure the nests,
which are greatly prized in China.

As we neared the Aru Islands we passed close to a number of boats at
anchor, the people from which were continually jumping overboard,
diving, and returning to the surface with some creatures in their hands.
As on the previous day, the wind was light, and we were able to
accompany Mr Hooker, and pulled off in the boat to see what they were
about.

"What can they be getting?" I asked.

"The creatures the natives are collecting are the _holothurians_, or
sea-cucumbers," answered the naturalist. "There are a great many
species of these creatures; but, I believe, those found on banks of
coral sand are