Through this opening the entrails are forced out by pressure, and they are much like those of any other small tenant of the deep.

The article is then washed, and afterward boiled to a certain degree, which must not be too much or too little.

They are then buried in the ground for four hours, then boiled again for a short time, after which they are dried, either by the fire or the sun.

Those cured by the sun are worth the most; but where one picul (133 1/3 lbs.) can be cured that way, I can cure thirty piculs by the fire.

When once properly cured, they can be kept in a dry place for two or three years without any risk; but they should be examined once in every few months, say four times a year, to see if any dampness is likely to affect them.
"The Chinese, as before stated, consider _biche de mer_ a very great luxury, believing that it wonderfully strengthens and nourishes the system, and renews the exhausted system of the immoderate voluptuary.
The first quality commands a high price in Canton, being worth ninety dollars a picul; the second quality, seventy-five dollars; the third, fifty dollars; the fourth, thirty dollars; the fifth, twenty dollars; the sixth, twelve dollars; the seventh, eight dollars; and the eighth, four dollars; small cargoes, however, will often bring more in Manilla, Singapore, and Batavia." An agreement having been thus entered into, we proceeded immediately to land everything necessary for preparing the buildings and clearing the ground.