WD2988

Birds'-nest rocks, viewed from Karangbolong, Java. 1815

Probably by J. Knops.

Inscribed on front in pencil in the hand of Captain G.P. Baker: ‘Sketch of the n. side of the Hills forming the barrier of Cliffs to the South Sea in which are the celebrated Birds’ nest Rocks or Caves, with the road leading to them taken from the village of Carang Bolong-Augt 1815’.

Pencil; 43.1 by 54 cm.

Note: Karangbolong, situated on the south coast of Java in the district (later Residency) of Bagelen roughly two-thirds of the distance between Mantjingan and Tjilatjap, was visited by Captain G.P. Baker and his party in mid August 1815. The main interest there was the birds'-nest caves which were the best known and the most productive in Java. Accordin to Raffles, they yielded annually about one hundred ‘pikuls’, worth about 200,000 Spanish dollars (£50,000), but this estimate was probably on the high side as thirty years later they were producing only about half that amount. The nests, which were made by the tiny swift ‘(Collocalia nidifica s. fuciphaga),’ were collected three times a year, in April, August, and December, and shipped to China for making the famous birds'-nest soup. The nests varied in size, colour, and weight, but on average measured less than 30 mm in thickness and about 60 to 70 mm in diameter. They were designated according to colour, the first, ‘Head,’ being the cleanest, almost white in appearance, and the best; the second, ‘Belly,’ were somewhat darker in colour, almost yellow, but free of dirt; the last, ‘Foot,’ were dirty and dark in colour and were not saleable in China. During the British period approximately two hundred ‘pikuls’ of birds'-nests were exported annually from Java to China, at prices which went as high as 40 Spanish dollars (£10) per ‘kati’ of about 1.25lb., though a consignment shipped by the Java Government to Canton in 1813 sold at only about half that price. The present drawing, probably by Jan Knops, depicts the birds'-nest caves as seen from the village of Karangbolong.