THE HAWK'S-BILL TURTLE. 179 



ornament of his triumph, a9 he did ivory afterwards, when 

 triumphing for having happily finished the African war. This, too, 

 in more modern times, was a great article in the trade to China, 

 and I have always been exceedingly surprised, since near the 

 whole of the Arabian Gulf is comprehended in the charter of the 

 East-India Company, that they do not make an experiment of 

 fishing both pearls and tortoises ; the former of which, so long 

 abandoned, must njw be in great plenty and excellence ; and a 

 few fishers put on board each ship trading to Jidda, might surely 

 find very lucrative employment with a long boat or pinnace, at 

 the time the vessels were selling their cargo in the port ; and 

 while busied in this gainful occupation, the coasts of the Red 

 Sea might be fully explored. 



The thirteen plates which cover the carapace are 

 known technically as two plates, two main plates, 

 three backs, two wings, two tongues, and two shoul- 

 ders — -in all, thirteen. In an animal of the ordinary 

 size, about three feet long and two and a half wide, 

 the largest plates will weigh about nine ounces, and 

 measure about twelve inches by seven, and one- 

 fourth of an inch thick in the middle.* 



The market value of tortoise-shell is subject to 

 many fluctuations, but at ordinary times it ranges 

 from sixteen to thirty shillings per pound. The 

 total value of our imports in one year is estimated at 

 about twenty-five thousand pounds. The greater 

 proportion of this is derived from the British East 

 Indies, and the residue from Central and South 



* The Technologist, vol. i., p. 382. 



N 2 



