HAWK’S-BILL TURTLE. 7 
The different species of marine Turtles are found in all 
the seas of hot climates, and they are only seen in con- 
siderable numbers within a certain distance from the land. 
About the shores of several of the West India Islands, 
“Cuba, Jamaica, St. Domingo; in the Atlantic, at the 
Cape de Verde and Ascension Islands; again, in the 
Indian Ocean, at the Isle of France, Madagascar, the 
Seychelles, &c.; at Vera Cruz, in the Gulf of Mexico, 
and at the Sandwich and Gallapagos Islands, in the 
Pacific,” * they are found in the greatest abundance. 
It is unnecessary, and it would be out of place here, to 
enter at large upon the particular history of the different 
species. Every one knows the value of the Green Turtle, 
as it is commonly called, as an article of luxurious and 
most nutritious food; and all the species afford a large 
quantity of oil, which is employed for various purposes. 
But it may not be uninteresting to offer a few observations 
on the particular utility of the species which is now to be 
described. 
The Hawk’s-billed Turtle, Chelonia imbricata, is not 
generally used in food, as its flesh is far from being either 
so wholesome or agreeable as that of the Green Turtle ; 
but the large scales with which it is covered are so much 
employed in the arts, both for purposes of ornament and 
utility, as to constitute no unimportant object of mer- 
chandize. It is the substance commonly called Tortoise- 
shell. ) For the following short account of the mode of 
obtaining and preparing it, I am principally indebted to 
the admirable History of Reptiles by my excellent friends 
M. Dumeril and M. Bibron.+ 
Although the greater number of the whole order of Tes- 
* Dumeril et Bibron, Hist. des Rept. II. p. 520. 
+ Hist. des Rept. IL. p. 524, et seq. 
