MODES OF CAPTURING TORTOISES. 175 



heat, it is softened and can be modelled into any fashion, accord- 

 ing to the taste of the moulder ; after becoming cool it retains 

 the desired shape. 



While most of the Tortoises are highly useful to man, both for 

 food and other purposes, perhaps the most interesting are the Green 

 Turtles (Tortues /ranches of French authors), Chelonia caouana 

 and Caretta. From these man draws the greatest advantage from 

 their superior size, and from the thickness of their shells. The Green 

 Turtle (Chelonia Mydas y Fig. 40) is so called from the reflected 

 green of its carapace. It abounds in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, 

 where it keeps habitually far from the shore, except in the breeding 

 seasons, when it makes long voyages in order to deposit its eggs, 

 giving a preference for that purpose to Ascension Island and 

 St. Vincent. It rests on the surface of the open sea, and as 

 it sleeps heavily, it is easily taken by a cord with a running 

 knot, which is carefully slipped round its neck as the boat con- 

 taining the captors silently glides past. It is even said to be a 

 practice with the Malay fishermen to dive beneath them, and attach- 

 ing a cord to the foot of a sleeping Turtle, thus take it alive. 



Many other modes are employed for capturing them. In the 

 regions frequented by them in the breeding season, they are fol- 

 lowed by their track on the sands, and their retreat cut off, when 

 met with, by forming a circle round them, when they are thrown on 

 their backs ; hand- spikes sometimes being necessary to accomplish 

 this from their great size. In this position they are helpless, and 

 must remain until wanted, so that their enemies have time to pursue 

 their sport elsewhere, as represented in Fig. 41. The next day they 

 are collected or destroyed at leisure. In 1802 the crew of a French 

 ship surprised a female Turtle on the Island of Lobos. The men had 

 infinite trouble in making good its capture and throwing it on its 

 back, for it was strong enough to drag them all towards the sea. It 

 was at last mastered. Its head was as large as that of an infant, and 

 its beak four times the size of a paroquet. It weighed two hundred 

 and sixty pounds, and had in its body three hundred and forty- 

 seven eggs. Turtles are also taken in nets, in the meshes of which 

 their beaks and flippers get entangled; thus prevented from coming 

 to the surface for air, they die of asphyxia. Others harpoon them 

 on the open sea when they come to the surface to breathe. The 



