Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 October 1884 — Bird’s-Nest Soup. [ARTICLE]

Bird’s-Nest Soup.

The introduction of real Chinese bird’s-nest soup to Londoners, to which we adverted last month, may raise the question as to what material such nests can be made of. An English naturalist, living at Yokohama, has lately published a very interesting account of a visit which he paid to Gormanton caves, which are situated among the tropical forests of North Borneo. From these caves come the bulk of the nests of which the soup is made, and they are the only place in the world where they can be obtained in any quantity. The caves are of immense extent, and are several hundred feet in height. They are covered with nests, which are built by swallows and bats, the material being a soft fungoid growth which incrusts the limestone in which the caves are formed. The yearly value of the nests taken is between £5,000 and £6,000 on the spot. The value when they reach China is, of course, very much more. It is perhaps as well, considering the expensive nature of the luxury and its scarcity, that the consumption is not likely to increase from its introduction into Britain. To our barbarian palates it is decidedly insipid.— Chambers’ Journal.