like gum mastic, it can only be procured in small quantities, depending
on the caprice or necessities of the mountain-tribes. Going along the
seashore in Zamboanga Province, on one occasion, I met a mountaineer
carrying a bundle of cinnamon to Zamboanga Port--many miles distant--to
sell the bark to the Chinese at [Peso}8 per picul. I bought his load,
the half of which I sent to Spain, requesting a friend there to
satisfy my curiosity by procuring a quotation for the sample in the
Barcelona market. He reported that the quality was so low that only
a nominal price could be quoted, and that it stood nowhere compared
with the carefully cultivated Ceylon product.

_Edible Bird's Nest_ (_Collocalia troglodytes--Coll. nodifica
esculenta_ Bonap.) is an article of trade with the Chinese, who readily
purchase it at high prices. It is made by a kind of sea-swallow, and
in appearance resembles vermicelli, variegated with blood-coloured
spots. The nests are found in high cliffs by the sea, and the natives
engaged in their collection reach them by climbing up bush-rope
or bamboos with the branch-knots left on to support themselves with
their toes. It is a very dangerous occupation, as the nests are always
built high in almost inaccessible places. The Filipino risks his life
in collecting them, whilst the Chinaman does the safe and profitable
business of trading in the article. In the Philippines the collection
begins in December, and the birds deprived of their nests have then
to build a second nest for laying their eggs. These second nests are
gathered about the end of January, and so on up to about the fourth
collection. Each successive nest decreases in commercial value, and
the last one is hardly worth the risk of taking. Even though there
might be venturesome collectors who would dislodge the last nests,
the wet season fortunately sets in and prevents their being reached,
hence the bird is at length able to continue propagation. Bird's-nest
soup is a delicacy in great demand in China.

These nests are chiefly found in the Calamities group of islands,
particularly in Busuanga Island. The Sulu Archipelago and Palauan
Island also furnish a small quantity of edible birds'-nests.

_Balate_, or Trepang, is a species of sea-slug, for which the natives
find a ready sale to the Chinese at good prices. The fish is preserved
by being gutted, cooked, and sun-dried, and has a shrimp taste. It
is found in greatest quantities off the Calam