104 NIMROD OF THE SEA; OR, 



running' noisily through the dried grass to a neighboring 

 hole ; the multitudes of curious, bright-colored lizards skip- 

 ping over the burned rocks/ and the tameness of the pretty 

 doves which confidently alighted on my shoulders all gave 

 a charming variety to my first walk on this prolific field of 

 new life, and my disappointment at the rugged coast passed 

 away. I had proceeded perhaps a mile, when the cry of 

 " Town ho !" was heard a short distance off. This announced 

 game afoot, and I hurried in the direction of the cry. As I 

 was ambitious to vindicate myself as a hunter, having spun 

 many a yarn about fox and coon hunts in the woods and 

 over the hills of Pennsylvania, I kept a bright lookout under 

 every cover, ignorant of the character of the game, much as 

 a rabbit-hunter might, and often stumbled over the stones 

 in my eagerness, the cry of " Town lio !" coming again and 

 again. Presently, to my surprise, I saw our happy darkey, 

 'Zekiel the same whose ferocity alarmed the Peruvian 

 guard sitting on the rear of an enormous terrapin about 

 the size of a wheelbarrow, and much the shape of my moth- 

 er's forty-gallon apple-butter kettle. 



'Zekiel was shouting " Town ho !" for the necessary help 

 to tote this great meat-chest to the shore. Good heavens ! 

 thought I; is this the animal I was "peeking" to find under 

 the stones, much as Handy Andy did when ordered to look 

 up the unlikely places for the lost cows ? Here was a " baste " 

 that would weigh three hundred pounds at least. In the 

 vicinity were numbers of others of more manageable size, 

 and we selected two of perhaps fifty pounds' weight. We 

 tied the fore and hind legs of each, so as to leave convenient 

 loops through which to slip our arms, intending thus to car- 

 ry our capture home, knapsack-fashion, on our backs. The 

 great cavity in the bottom shell fitted nicely to our shoul- 

 ders, and, aiding each other in adjusting the load, we made 

 for the beach. All went pleasantly until rny terrapin got it 



