THE VOYAGE. 33 



number of lines were hanging from the bow, the 

 ship almost still, when there was a tremendous 

 hue-and-cry that a turtle was hooked. To hold 

 him with the line would have been an utter 

 impossibility he could have smashed it like pack- 

 thread. The barbed trident called ' a grains ' 

 was brought into immediate requisition, and from 

 the ' dolphin-striker ' an experienced hand sent 

 it crashing through the turtle's armour-plates ; a 

 boat was lowered, tackle rigged, and the ponder- 

 ous reptile safely deposited on the deck. The 

 species I was unable to determine, for I had 

 barely time to seize the sucking-fish (liemorcL] 

 that were clinging to its shell in clusters, and 

 observe the curious beings, parasitic and others, 

 that evidently used the turtle as a living raft, on 

 which to cruise about, ere the remorseless cook, 

 armed with knife, axe, and saw, hewed and 

 hacked the monster, I could have devoted days 

 to examine, into junks for the pot. The harvest 

 gleaned from his shell I shall speak of in the 

 chapter on Fishes. 



All our fresh provisions had long been expen- 

 ded, and water reduced to a very small supply 

 per diem, when on the llth of July, the seventieth 

 day at sea, ' land on the starboard bow ' was an 



VOL. I. D 



