THE LEATHERY TURTLE. \ §5 



Zoology " : — " The late Bishop of Carlisle informed 

 me that a tortoise was taken off the coast of Scar- 

 borough in 1748 or 1749. It was purchased by a 

 family at that time there, and a good deal of com- 

 pany invited to partake of it. A gentleman who 

 was one of the guests told them it was a Mediter- 

 ranean turtle, and not wholesome ; only one of the 

 company ate of it, and it almost killed him, being 

 seized with a dreadful vomiting and purging." 



The introduction of the Green Turtle to this 

 country as an article of food is of comparatively 

 recent date, probably not much exceeding a century, 

 and it is still confined to a limited circle of ad- 

 mirers. The plebeian eye may gaze with longing 

 on " turbot," but does not so often flash with desire 

 for turtle soup. The green fat is an aristocratic 

 delicacy, a taste for which is acquired best by means 

 of an aldermanic gown. 



Of the Sea Turtles, the most in request, says 

 Catesby, is the Green Turtle, which is esteemed a 

 most wholesome and delicious food. It receives its 

 name from the fat, which is of a green colour. Sir 

 Hans Sloane informs us, in his "History of Jamaica," 

 that forty sloops are employed by the inhabi- 

 tants of Port Royal, in Jamaica, for catching them. 

 The markets are there supplied with turtle as ours 

 are with butcher's meat. The Bahamians carry 

 many of them to Carolina, where they turn them 



