REPTILES OF BERMUDA. 293 



but this is of truth that Iloggcs, Turkles, Fish aud Fowle doe abound 

 as dust of the earth." 



That wanton destruction had decidedly lessened the number of turtles 

 as early as 1G20 is evident Ironi the following act of the Assembly of 

 that year : 



"An act agaynst the killinge of ouer young Tortoyses. 



"In regard that juuc^h Avastc and abuse hath been offered aud j'et is 

 by sundrye lewd aud inipvident psons inhabitinge wthiu these Islands 

 who in there continuall goinges out to sea for fish doe upon all occa- 

 sionSj And at all tymes as they can meete with them, snatch & catch 

 up indittercntlye all kinds of Torto3\ses both youge & old little and 

 greate and soe kill carrye awaye aud devoure them to the much decay 

 of the breed of so excellent a fishe the daylye skarringe of them from 

 of our shores aud the danger of an utter distroyinge and losse of them. 



" It is therefore enacted by the Authoritie of this present Assembly 

 That from hence forward noe manner of pson or psons of what degree 

 or condition soeuer he be inhabitinge or remiiyninge at any time wthin 

 these Islands shall p'^sume to kill or cause to be killed in any Bay 

 Sound Harbor or any other place out to Sea : being w*''iu five leagues 

 round about of those Islands any young Tortoyses that are or shall not 

 be found to be Eighteen inches in the Breadth or Dyameter and that 

 upon the penaltye for euerye such offence of the fforfeyture of fifteen 

 pounds of Tobacco whereof the one half is to be bestowed iu publique 

 uses the other upon the Informer." 



Allusions to the turtles become less frequent in the latter half of the 

 century. In fact, it would seem as if the first twenty or thirty years of 

 the settlement's existence had served so to reduce their numbers as to 

 make them somewhat rare. This is the opinion of General Lefroy, to 

 Avhose great work on the Bermudas I am indebted for the early history. 

 In the preface of his work (Mem. Bermudas, Vol. I, preface, p. viii) he 

 says : " The abundance of turtle, fish, and fowl rapidly came to an 

 end." Other writers of recent times mention them as occurring iu the 

 waters off" the shores, but do not speak of them as abundant. General 

 Lefroy states in a foot-note (Vol. I, p. 67) that " The largest hawksbill 

 turtle killed for many years past weighed 150 pounds ; the largest green 

 turtle 145 pounds iu the shell." General Nelson, Geology of Bermuda, 

 1S37, notes the occurrence of very large turtle bones in tlie sands near 

 the shore. I give his statements at second hand, as found in Mr. Jones's 

 book : " Turtle bones have also been dug up iu the loose sand of the sea- 



