sharks' fins

Sharks' Fins are an article of trade from the Arabian and Persian Gulphs to India, and from thence to China; they are esteemed very strengthening by the Chinese. In chusing them, care should be taken that they have been properly cured; the larger they are, when free from decay, the more they are esteemed. In India they are generally sold by tale: each fin should be upwards of nine inches long; all under that size, reckon two for one; the price varies from three to five rupees per hundred. In China they are sold by the pecul, which contains about 500 pieces. The East Indiamen prefer carrying them on freight from India to China; they are packed in bales, weighing about 7 cwt.; and from Bombay to China the freight is about 20 to 24 rupees per bale. They are likewise prepared on the Malabar and Coromandel Coasts, and many of the islands in the Indian Ocean.

William Milburn.
Revised by Thomas Thornton.
Oriental Commerce, or the East India Trader's Complete Guide; …
London: Printed for Kingsbury, Parbury, and Allen, 1825.
Page 76.