1737.] T0 JOHN BARTRAM. 109 



enough. Keep the butterflies, or day-flies, by themselves, the 

 moths by themselves, and these devouring beetles by themselves, 

 but drown them in rum, or heat them in a gentle oven will stop all 

 their further progress. Moths are sometimes subject to breed 

 insects which will eat up their bodies, but the heat of a very slack 

 oven kills all. Butterflies are not liable to these accidents. But 

 at the proper time of sending, they may be collected all in one 

 box, and desire the captain to set it in any dry place in the cabin; 

 for the last, being put in the Lazaretto, under the cabin, narrowly 

 escaped all being spoilt by a bag or barrel of salt being put over 

 them, which came through the box. Captain Savage is a won- 

 derful good-natured obliging man, and can't prevent the careless- 

 ness of his servants. As thee intends to repair that loss, which is 

 very obliging, I only just give this hint, that I prefer butterflies 

 and moths before beetles ; and reason good, for there is ten times 

 the beauty and variety in one as the other. 



I shall now tell thee something which very much pleased me, 

 and will surprise thee. The box of turtle eggs (which was an 

 ingenious thought of thine to send), on the day I brought it from 

 on board ship, being the 20th of October, I took off the lid, having 

 a mind to see the eggs, and on peeping about I saw a little head 

 just above ground, and while I was looking, I saw the ground 

 move in a place or two more. In short, in the space of three or 

 four hours, eight tortoises were hatched. It was very well worth 

 observing, how artfully they disengaged themselves from the shell, 

 and then with their fore-feet scratched their eyes open. They 

 have had many visiters, such a thing never happening, I dare say, 

 in England before. They seem to be all one sort, but thee men- 

 tions two. I tried if they would eat, with Lettuce leaves, &c, or 

 if they would drink, but they regarded neither. But after they 

 had been crawling about three or four days, they buried themselves 

 in the earth in the box, where they continue. Early in the spring 

 I design to turn them out at Lord Petre's, who has large ponds, 

 if they are water-turtles. I believe it was providential that this 

 box was put in the Lazaretto, for the warmth of the ship supplied 

 the sun's heat, and brought them to perfection. But the luckiness 

 of the thing was their hatching the day they were brought home. 

 I have specimens dried of four sorts of your American turtles, but 

 these seem different from them all, by the length of their tail, and 

 figure of their shell. As for their not eating, and burying them- 



