112 LECTUKE IX. 



woods, it is evident that, except for the number 

 of eggs laid and their hardness, they would be 

 devoured by the snakes, who occasionally re- 

 move some from the nest in trying to break 

 them. I have always looked upon this fact as 

 a beautiful arrangement of Providence for the 

 preservation of His creatures. 



I will conclude my notice of the turtle with 

 the following anecdote, which was told me by 

 the late Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence : In the 

 Island of Ascension turtles are kept in con- 

 siderable numbers in tanks, to supply the ships 

 which call there. Lord Adolphus commanded 

 a frigate which, on its way to England, touched 

 at Ascension and shipped a number of turtles ; 

 but as the voyage home was protracted, many 

 of them died, and were heaved overboard. One 

 large one, called Lord Nelson from its having lost 

 a flapper, survived till the ship was in the Chan- 

 nel, when it appeared so nearly dead that it was 

 thrown into the sea. All these turtles were 

 marked on the shell, as usual, with a hot iron. 

 In the course of a year this turtle was again 

 taken in the Island of Ascension, and was im- 

 mediately known by the marks as one of those 



