10 CHELONIADA. 
the eggs are considered a great delicacy. It does not 
generally attain to more than one-third the size of the 
Green Turtle. 
The shell of this species is depressed, rather longer in 
proportion to its breadth than the other species, and some- 
what heart-shaped. It is covered with thirteen imbricated 
plates, each of which in the young state has the apex 
pointed; but in older individuals this is entirely worn 
away. ‘The margin has plates, which are prominent at the 
posterior and exterior angle, especially those towards the 
hinder part, so as to form sharp and strong denticulations. 
The under side, or sternum, has twelve plates; and there 
are two carine which run through its whole length from 
the anterior to the posterior margin; these ridges, how- 
ever, are worn off by age; but they were very evident in 
the individual from which the present figures were taken, 
and which I had alive for a short time in my possession. 
The head is rather elongated, flattened above, and com- 
pressed at the sides in front of the eyes, so that the beak 
is less arched than in any other species of the genus. The 
head is covered with fourteen scales, to which, in zoological 
language, different names are given from their situation. 
The upper and lower jaws are covered with a horny 
beak, as before described; they are not denticulated at 
the edges; they are sharp, and scarcely sinuous; and the 
apex, both in the upper and lower, is sharp and hooked, 
that of the under shutting within that of the upper. The 
feet do not materially differ from those of the species 
generally, of the marine form, as before described. The 
tail is conical, and is so short, that it does not extend 
beyond the posterior margin of the shell. 
The colour of the upper parts is yellow, marbled or 
splashed with a deep rich brown; the plates of the head 
