﻿SPINY 
  SOFT-SHELLED 
  TURTLE. 
  425 
  

  

  men 
  use 
  a 
  long 
  iron 
  fork, 
  such 
  as 
  an 
  old 
  iron 
  ramrod, 
  sharpened 
  at 
  one 
  end, 
  or 
  a 
  stout 
  strip 
  of 
  

   bamboo, 
  which 
  they 
  thi'ust 
  down 
  for 
  a 
  foot 
  or 
  two 
  in 
  the 
  soft 
  vegetarian 
  sludge 
  and 
  decayed 
  

   leaves 
  found 
  along 
  the 
  margins 
  of 
  deep 
  pools 
  in 
  the 
  hill-streams. 
  

  

  "If 
  a 
  fork 
  touches 
  a 
  Turtle 
  concealed 
  below, 
  the 
  motion 
  of 
  the 
  animal 
  is 
  felt: 
  a 
  cautious 
  

   examination 
  is 
  then 
  made 
  mth 
  the 
  hand, 
  and 
  a 
  fish-hook 
  is 
  cleverly 
  inserted 
  in 
  the 
  soft 
  part 
  

   about 
  the 
  tail. 
  A 
  steady 
  haul 
  is 
  now 
  made, 
  and 
  out 
  comes 
  the 
  Turtle, 
  \vildly 
  floundering 
  and 
  

   snapping 
  at 
  everything 
  within 
  its 
  reach 
  mth 
  pertinacious 
  ferocity. 
  

  

  "Sometimes, 
  when 
  the 
  animal 
  is 
  large 
  and 
  the 
  water 
  deep, 
  a 
  stake 
  is 
  held 
  over 
  the 
  animal's 
  

   back, 
  and 
  wdth 
  a 
  few 
  well-deUvered 
  blows 
  of 
  a 
  mallet, 
  driven 
  through 
  both 
  shells. 
  Woe 
  betide 
  

   the 
  hmb, 
  however, 
  which 
  comes 
  witliin 
  reach 
  of 
  the 
  infuriated 
  animal! 
  I 
  saw 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  a 
  

   man's 
  toe 
  bitten 
  clean 
  off 
  by 
  a 
  trionyx 
  which 
  was 
  being 
  'staked,' 
  and, 
  as 
  these 
  animals 
  are 
  

   both 
  active 
  and 
  ferocious, 
  it 
  is 
  always 
  ad\isable 
  to 
  send 
  a 
  bullet 
  through 
  their 
  brain 
  as 
  soon 
  

   as 
  possible. 
  So 
  tenacious 
  of 
  life, 
  however, 
  are 
  these 
  creatm'es, 
  that 
  their 
  heads 
  bite 
  vigorously 
  

   after 
  being 
  completely 
  dissevered 
  from 
  their 
  bodies." 
  

  

  These 
  tm'tles 
  often 
  annoy 
  the 
  fisherman 
  by 
  taking 
  liis 
  baited 
  hook 
  and 
  are 
  very 
  destructive 
  

   to 
  young 
  fish 
  and 
  water-fowl. 
  

  

  