Note 255 — Chapter VII

The balate is an echinoderm found abundantly in the Visayas, of which Delgado describes three varieties (p. 935): namely the Holothuria scabra (Jager), which is white; the Holothuria atra (Jager), which is black; and the bacongan or Synapta similis (Semper), which is of larger size. The second variety is most esteemed. It was sold dry in the Visayas or taken to Manila and sold, where they were worth thirty-five or forty or even more silver pesos per pico. The Chinese especially esteemed them (and do so yet) and large sums were paid for them in that country. The Filipinos occasionally ate them fresh, but only in the absence of fish.