Til S ORBSN 7V/,'77,Jt H 



" Should sh,. h.-ar an\ MI.. if nois... nr ]M-ivi-h.- an\ indi--ati.ni .if danir<-r. she instantly sinks 

 and goes <>1T to a di-taix ; IUIT should \.-r\tliitn: N- <|iii,-t, six- ad\an. -.-s -|,.\s |\ i.nvaid- th,- 

 beach, crawls over it. IHT head rais,,) t.. the full stretch ..f h.-r n.vk. and when she has reached 

 a pla<-.- litt.-d for IHT |. ii 1 1 xi-.'. -1 legates all iini'in 1 in silence. Finding nil well, Bho proceeds to 

 form a 1ml. in th- -and. \\hirh sh.- .-iT.-.-t-, b\ ivm<>\ im; it from under her INN! y with IHT hind 

 tlapiiera, scooping it nut \\ith -,, mu< -|, ,|.-\i.-rit\ . ti i:i( the sides i*-ldom. if.-\.T. fall in Th.- 

 sand is i-.iis.-d alt.-rnat.-ly witli each llap]--ras with a ladl.-, until it lm.s accumulated U-hind hiT, 

 when, supporting herx-lf \\ith h.-r h.-a.| and f.n- jmrt <>n th- ffmuinl. >ln-. with a spring from 

 t-ach llapj.' -i. -.nds tin- xind ai'Miind hT, sral t-rin.i: it tn the distalH'.- ..f -ii-nil f.^-t. 



In this niann.T th.- h<>l- is dug to tin- d.-j.th <if i-ighlifii inrli.-. ..i -..in. tim. - nmn< than 

 two fwt. This Iiilmr I have Been performed in tin- .shcirt spa.-.- <,f nim- niinut.-s. The gg are 

 tlu-n drnpiM-d on.- I iy ..ii.-. and disp<>s^l in regular layer* t<> th.- nuinUT <if one hundred and 

 fifty, nr -..ni.'tiin.'s m-arly tu.. hun.li.-.|. Th,- whol,- time *\-\\\ in this (|-t-iti(Hi may lx alx.ut 

 tw.-nty iiiiniites. She now s<-nij>es the loone Hand lia-k over theegga, and so levels and -mootlm 



the surface, that few IHTXIIIS, ..M *.-,-\\\-> the s^it. \\ould imagine that anything had IN-.-H ,| 



toit. Thisarconi|.li>h.-d ! h.-r mind, she retreats to the watt-r with all possible deopatch, 

 leaving the hatching of the eggs to the heat of the sand 



"When a Turtle, a loggerhead for example, i- in the art of dropping her eggs, dhe will 

 not mo\e, although one should go up to her. or .-\. n -~>-.\\ himself on her bark ; hut the moment 



it i- tini-h.-d. ..I!" -\\,- starts. IKH woulil i' ' \ ill]., foi ine, mil hi W M M -n..nj a- 11. T 



cules, to turn her over and secure her." 



The Green Turtle \a a staple article of commerce in Key West, on the Florida Ileef. It is 

 abundant on the waters in the Florida straito, and along the (tulf coast*. Tin- fishermen in 

 the latter regions practise the plugging method of capturing it. In K.-y \\Vst, the Turtles are 

 placed in "crawls," an enclosed spare in shallow water, which allows of fn-e circulation of sea 

 water. Steamers plying to New York take on all that an supplied, for the Northern markets. 

 We have seen the young of the Green Turtle in ronsid.-rabl.- numU-re, in the shallow lnl.-ts 

 of the mangrove swamps on the southern extremity of Florida. These young are exceedingly 

 good as edibles. The old ones feed in the same localities on the tender algn\ which rend- TS 

 th.-iu dt-licate and fat. The other great sea Turtles are carnivorous, and prove very indifferent 

 as food, though the garrison at Fort .lelTerson issued the meat as rations a jtortion of the year. 

 Its novelty, and change from Un-f occasionally, made it a welcome article of the commissary. 



The aspect of this sin-Hes is quit.- in contrast with the loggerhead, the head of the Green 

 Turtle being so much the smaller. 



Occasionally, the Green Turtle has been led on. by the influence of the warm waters of the 

 gulf stream, to venture off the entrance of New York harbor a dangerous locality, one would 

 say, for such a highly pri7>ed edibl.-. Fine s|>ecimcns wen- k.-j>t in the New York Aquarium, 

 where they could be observed with ease. Their peculiar movements in swimming remind 

 one of the flight of a bird. 



Dr. Strobel informed Dr. Holbrook, the distinguished author on this subject, that Green 

 Turtles taken at Tortugas Islands were marked by the wreckers, and k.-pt in confinement at 

 Key West, sixty miles distant. Some escaped, and were recaptured while laying eggs, on the 

 same bland in the Tortugas group as they were formerly taken from. 



