356 THE SEAS 



the sands to deposit their eggs. The latter also are in great 

 demand, they are about the size of a hen's egg and are 

 said to retain their freshness for a considerable time. 

 Like the hawksbill, the green turtles have been decimated 

 as a result of being perpetually pursued ; and, from being 

 caught with ease off the Atlantic shores of North America, 

 they now have to be sought in the remoter islands of the 

 West Indies. 



Apart from certain kinds in fresh water, the other turtles 

 most prized as food are the salt-water terrapins which live 

 in salt marshes along the east coast of America from 

 Massachusetts southward as far as South America. These 

 are captured in large numbers for the market, either taken 

 from the marshes during the breeding season or, in the more 

 northern regions, dug from the marshes just as they are 

 beginning their winter sleep or hibernation. At this time 

 they are extremely fat owing to the reserves of food they 

 have accumulated to carry them over the winter, and so 

 are excellent as food. 



Sponges 



As mentioned previously sponges are animals. There are 

 many different kinds of sponges but only a few of any 

 commercial importance, and these are to be found in 

 sufficient quantities in certain localities only. 



The first sponge fisheries were in the Mediterranean where 

 from remotest antiquity the Greeks of the JEgean Islands 

 have pursued this occupation. Until the middle of the 

 nineteenth century the supply of sponges was derived 

 solely from the Mediterranean waters, but in 1849 new 

 grounds were discovered off the coasts of Florida and the 

 Bahamas Islands. These two regions, the Mediterranean 

 and the Bahamas waters, are still the sites of the most 

 important sponge fisheries of the world ; and of the sponges 



