TURTLE GENERALLY 157 



and change with indescribable radiance. The head is 

 decorated with bands of pink, orange and green ; the 

 pectoral fins are pale green with a bold medial stripe of 

 puce, and the tail is a study of blue-green and puce. 

 When the fish is drawn from the water the colours live, 

 the play of lights being marvellously lovely. The colours 

 differ, and they also vary in intensity in individuals. 

 Though the prevailing tint may be radiant blue, it will 

 be shot with gold in one and with pink in another. 



The flesh is edible, though (as is common with parrot 

 fish) not particularly admirable with regard to flavour. It 

 is wonderful and beautiful. Are not these qualities all- 

 sufficient? Must everything be good to eat? To the 

 natives of the island this jewel of the sea is known as 

 "Oo-ril-ee," and to scientists as belonging to the scaroid 

 family. 



TURTLE GENERALLY 



Three species of turtle frequent these waters the 

 loggerhead (Thalassochelys caretta}^ the hawksbill (Chelone 

 imbricata), and the green (Chelone my das]. Both of the 

 latter are herbivorous and edible ; but the flesh of the first- 

 named, a fish and mollusc eater, is rank and strong, and it 

 is therefore not hunted, the shell being of little if any value. 

 Loggerhead, however, is not disregarded by the blacks, 

 though to the unaccustomed nose the flesh has a most 

 repulsive smell. It is powerful and fierce when molested. 

 One which was harpooned, on being hauled up to the boat 

 seized the gunwale and left the marks of its beak deep in 

 the wood. The creature seems also to be endowed with 

 greater vitality than the other species, and this fact may 

 excite the wonder of those who have seen the heart of a 

 green turtle pulsate long after removal from the body, and 

 the limbs an hour after separation shrink from the knife 

 and quiver. 



The hawksbill furnishes the tortoiseshell of commerce, 



