TOHTOISE 

 AND TURTLE 



t 1905-6 throughout the world, NoSLPaton (Rev. Troth /, 

 affords many interacting particulars that will irpav iwru**!. 



[('/. LiiiHchoten. Voy. K. Ind., 1598 (etl. Hakl.S... wood aiul 



r. K.I < Fit .k, 1000 I''. - 



I'.TH (e,l. Ball), ii., ir,:! ; M, II, urn. Or. - 



I'ni.l, n,,.l Manuf. N. Intl.. Ins.. |,.j. KIJ. i, 



passages) ; Hughe*. Tin Smelting in M /,/ iggf 



\\n . pt. 4, 235-6 ; also Pro*. Opem 



\fin. Prod, hul., 18!C{ 7; nU.. > 



Kept, on Inspect, of Mines, 1H5MJ. 07 ; 1897, 02; I'.irrv. 

 Prot. Malay States, 1898, 20-3.'! ; Tl...r,H. f lt,,-t 1/,,,/V/,,,,, I-HH. ,,, 

 Dutt, Jlfo/. Mai. Hind., 1900, 69-71 ; Stom.-r. 



IIMIL'. 10. 25, etc. ; flee. (W. Nurr. /;../ 



LI : Anqlo-Orient. Comm., May 1906, n.s., i., 281-4 



(ninny articles).] 



DAP.. 



pt. i., 





Hawkbill 

 Turtle. 



. !..-,-. 



Shell. 



SOTUOM. 

 8*prUoo ot 



TORTOISE AND TURTLE, and Tortoise-shell Manu- 

 facture. The two animals of chief important-*- thiit fall into this 

 ]>l;ice are : 



Chelone imbricata: Boulenger, Fa. Br. Ind. (Rt-ptili 

 Montgomery Martin, Hist. E. Ind., i., 226 ; ii., 148 ; iii., 580- 1 : I : 

 Indust. Arts, 218; Mukharji, Art. Manuf. Intl.. 217. 2H2 ; Huir 

 Gaz., vifi., 394, 396 ; ix., 251 ; x., 297. The Hawk-hill Turtle or Indian 

 Caret, kachakra, alungu-thadu, ammah, sisik-kurakura, suik-panu, 

 Is a marine carnivorous species, plentiful on the coast* of Ceylon and t i.,- 

 Maldives. 



The Natives eat the flesh but it is unpalatable to European*, though the egg* 

 are regarded as equal to those of other turtles. One of the error* of .ommrrecieto 

 speak of "tortoise-shell": the name should rather be " turtle-shell "; ami t; 

 other species afford shells sometimes used OB substitute*, this animal afford* tin- 

 true tortoise-shell. Its value depends on a warm translucent yellow colour, 

 dashed and spotted with rich brown tints, and on the high polish which it 

 take. In China, shells with white ground and black spots that touch each 

 ore most admired. The finest shell is obtained from the Western Archipelago, 

 but is exported from the southern coast of the Indian continent, CVyl. ; 

 India Islands, and Brazil. The scales are detached from the turtle fit her by 

 actual force after the animal is killed or by immersion in boiling water. If taken 

 from the animal that has died a natural death or after decomposition ha* net 

 up, the shell becomes clouded and milky. From very earliest time* tortoiee-hell 

 has been a prized ornamental material. It was brought from the East to ancient 

 Rome by way of Egypt, and was used as a veneer for furniture. Vinwnt 

 (Periplus, etc., 1800, app., 48) says that in the time of the Peripliu this artiol.- 

 woe largely traded in, being procured from Africa, Socotra, Malabar, Laccadive 

 and Maldive Islands, etc. In modern times it has been employed in Europe for 

 the characteristic inlaying work known as Bhul Marquetry. It is used a* a veneer 

 for small boxes and frames and moulded into snuff-boxes and cigar-caees. alao 

 formed into knife and razor handles or cut into comb*. Vizogapatam may be 

 said to be the chief Indian locality where tortoise-shell is utilised in ornamental 

 work. [Cf. Fryer, New Ace. E. Ind. and Pert., 1675, 211 ; Ovington, Voy. to 

 Suratt, 1689, 517; Milburn, Or. Comm., 1813, i., 63; Bruce, Travel*, v., app., 

 215 ; Brandt and Ratzeburgh, Medicin-Zoologie, 1829. i., 181-98, tt. xxi.. X' 

 Journ. Bomb., Nat. Hist. Soc., 1897, x., IM : Vv.itt. Ind. Art at Delhi, 1903, 153-6, 

 193-4.] 



C. my das : Boulenger, I.e. 48. DJLP., 



The Green or Edible Turtle or the leik-pyen-won or Uik-kyae of Burma. Thb J^-P*- 

 is a herbivorous animal found in the tropical and sub-tropical seas, though rare 4 

 in the Bay of Bengal. Its flesh forms on important article of food, though at Edible 

 certain seasons it is said to become poisonous. The turtle of the Indian ea* Turtle. 

 is believed to rival in size and flavour that of the Atlnriti.'. Tne egg* arc 

 rich and have a taste somewhat like morrow ; they may be kept for week* eren 



1079 



Early 



:- 



''. 



