eeds, butter,
Constantia and Madeira wines; while the Chinese brought immense
quantities of porcelain and silks of every kind, taking in return opium,
ebony, sandal-wood, spices, and birds'-nests. These nests are half the
size of a woman's hand. They are made by a very small sea-swallow,
(_Hirundo esculenta_), and consist of a glutinous substance, interwoven
with filaments. They are found in the cavities of steep rocks on the
coast of all the Sunda Islands, on the northern shores of Australia, and
in many other parts of the Indian Seas. The native way of procuring
them is by fixing a stick on the summit of the precipice, with a
rope-ladder secured to it, whence the hunters descend in their search
into the most perilous situations. Although they have neither taste nor
smell, yet, from being supposed to be both tonic and a powerful
stimulant, they are an ingredient in all the ragouts of the most wealthy
people in China. They make an excellent broth. The white nests are
most in request. They are prepared by being first washed in three or
four changes of lukewarm water. When they have been some time in it,
they puff up like large vermicelli. Europeans, indeed, discover nothing
more in this singular dish than an insipid jelly, very much indeed
resembling vermicelli, when simply boiled.

After Java was restored to the Dutch, England still carried on a
considerable commerce with the island; but it is far smaller than it
would be under a less restricted system.

The Dutch were for long the only European nation who kept up any
commercial communication with Japan, because no other would submit to
the absurd restrictions and degrading ceremonies imposed by that
barbarian power. Every year, the governor-general sent a ship of
fifteen hundred tons, laden with kerseymeres, fine cloths, clock-work,
and spices. These were chiefly exchanged for bars of copper, which were
made into a very clumsy kind of coin for paying the native and European
troops, as well as the people employed in the counting-houses of Java
and the Moluccas. These ingots are of the finest red copper, and as
thick as the finger. They are cut into two, four, six, and eight
sous-pieces of Holland. The value is inscribed on them. This coin is
termed in the Malay language _baton_, which signifies a stone. The
captain, however, brings back furniture, fans, various articles of
copper, and sabres--the temper of the blades of which equals the best
workmansh