THE LEATHERY TURTLE. \gy 



bottom, a fathom or more deep. If a Turtle per- 

 ceives he is discovered, he starts up to make his 

 escape, the meu in the boat pursuing him, en- 

 deavouring to keep sight of him, which they often 

 lose, and recover again by the Turtle putting his 

 nose out of the water to breathe ; thus they pursue 

 him, one paddling or rowing, while the other stands 

 ready with his striker. It is sometimes half an 

 hour before he is tired ; then he sinks at once to 

 the bottom, which gives them an opportunity of 

 striking him, which is by piercing him with an iron 

 peg which slips out of the socket, but is fastened 

 with a string to a pole. If he is spent and tired 

 by being long pursued, he tamely submits, when 

 struck, to be taken into the boat or hauled ashore. 

 There are men who, by diving, will get on their 

 backs, and by pressing down their hind parts, and 

 raising the fore parts of them by force, bring 

 them to the top of the water, while another slips a 

 noose about their necks.* 



To return to the more immediate subject of this 

 chapter, it is supposed that the Leathery Turtle was 

 the species which supplied Mercury with its back 

 shell, to which he applied strings, and thus extem- 

 porized the first lyre, which was the prototype of all 

 stringed musical instruments. The seven dorsal 



* Catesby's ''Natural History of Carolina." 



