HAWK'S-BILL TURTLE. 



177 



is drawn on board along with its victim. This is line fishing of a 

 new kind, in which the hook is living, and pursues its prey in the 

 bosom of the deep. 



The Green Turtle, whose flesh is celebrated for its delicacy and 

 excellence of its fat, is that from which Turtle soup is made. Turtle 

 soup is only of recent invention, the first Turtle having been 

 brought to London by Admiral Anson in 1752. It was long a 

 costly dish, and even now, although the introduction of steam and 

 other adjuncts to navigation has greatly modified the expense, 

 its price is about ten shillings per pound weight. 



Much of the tortoise-shell of commerce comes from the Green 

 Turtle, but by far the finest specimens are produced by the Imbri- 

 cated or Hawk's-bill Turtle, Chelonia caretta (Fig. 42). In this 



Fig. 43. Loggerhead Turtle ( Chelonia caouana), 



species the plates of the disk are imbricated, or lapping over each 

 other, and thirteen in number. The muzzle is long and compressed ; 

 the jaws with straight edges, without dentation, curving slightly 

 towards each other at their extremities, with two nails on each 

 fin. It rarely attains the size or weight of the Green Turtle. 

 The Hawk's-bill Turtle is met with in the Indian Ocean, and also 

 on the American shores. It feeds on marine plants, on mollusks, 

 and small fishes, and is chiefly sought after for its shell, which 

 produces the finest tortoise-shell known ; while its flesh is rendered 



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