156 Three Young Crusoe s 



mouth of the creek, they could not manage; nor did 

 they care to fool with the old alligators and croco- 

 diles, but they had a whole pen full of crawling young 

 ones, and a half-grown green turtle to keep them 

 company. 



Henry had once seen twenty big green turtles, 

 weighing over three hundred pounds apiece, lying on 

 their backs on the deck of a ship with their flippers 

 tied together. He was told that they had made the 

 journey from Yucatan to New York in that way and 

 that six weeks or more without food seemed nothing 

 to them. 



Snowball and the monkey took great interest in 

 the animals and always helped to feed them, be- 

 cause they loved to see them eat. They reserved 

 the privilege, however, of pulling their tails and 

 teasing them in various ways, which made the boys 

 rather glad that the boa constrictor's cage was some 

 distance ofl^in the forest. 



Fig. 55. The land crab. It has amiable eyes but wicked claws. 



