A JAVA DINNER

"The table was covered with varions dishes^ or rallier bowls^ the steaming contents of which filled the room with vapor. As it was growing late^ ànd would be dark long before dinner was finished, numbers of paper lanterns^ suspended in festoons from . the ceiling, illuminated the room. . . . The first course was laid ont in a number of porcelain saucers^ prettily painted^ and consisted of varions cold appetizers. Thongh fuUy determined not to be fastidious^ I rejected a relîsh of earth-iuorms^ salted and dried, which seemed to be much patronized^ and took as a tonic a small cup of soy — a kind of sauce made from beans — and a few thin slices of ham.

The second course was smoking hot^ and ail the viands which composed it swam in soup. Some bowls contained a heterogeneous compound of pigeons' eggs^ duck, and fowls chopped very fine, and a multitude of other ingrédients only discernible by taste; others, little balls made of sliarks' fins, a peculiar kind of sea-slug, and pounded shrimp. . . . The next dish^ or compound, presented for onr délectation, was bird'snest soup/ that epicurean luxury which holds

80 BIRUS-NEST SOUP,

such high rank in the cuisîne of China. I was în duty boiind to taste thîs, so did not wait a second invitation from my host. I confess I was disappointed. "^hatever nutritions properties it may possess^ it was nevertheless almost tasteless, and^ thougti my olivaster companîons partook of it with mucli gusto^ and évident appréciation^ I did not consider it even the equal of vermicelli soup; which^ in appearance, it much resembled. Thèse nests, however, command very high priceS; especially those which are white, and of a fine and délicate texture. When properly prepared, they resemble isinglass, and are subject to a high import duty. They are principally brought from the south end of Sumatra, and are the produce of a species of swallow.

In shape they much resemble a saucer^ with one side flattened by adhérence to the rocky sides of caverns. In preparing them for the table, they are thoroughly cleansed and placed with a little ginseng inside the body of a fowl, which is allowed to stew ail night- they are then torn to shreds, reboiled in good stock, and served up with hard-boiled pigeons' eggs and soy.