160 CONFESSIONS OF A BEACHCOMBER 



covered with grass and dead leaves. The heat of the sun 

 hatches the eggs. But the guile of the turtle is limited. 

 However artfully the real nest may be concealed, the tracks 

 to and fro as well as the tracks to and from the many 

 counterfeits are as unmistakable, until the wind obliter- 

 ates them, as the tracks of a treble-furrow plough. The 

 chances against an unintellectual lover of turtle eggs dis- 

 covering a fresh nest off-hand are in exact ratio to the 

 number of deceptive appearances. In a few days all the 

 tracks are blotted out, and then none but those skilled or 

 possessed of keen perception may detect the nest. Blacks 

 probe all the likely spots with spears, and soon fix on the 

 right one. 



In a certain locality where the hawksbill turtle con- 

 gregate in untold numbers, a remarkable deviation from the 

 general habit has been observed. Several of the islands 

 are composed of a kind of conglomerate of coral debris, 

 shells and sand. With strange perversity some turtle 

 excavate in the rock cylindrical shafts about 18 inches 

 deep by 6 inches diameter with smooth perpendicular 

 sides. There is no adjunct to the flippers which appears to 

 be of service in the digging, yet the holes are such that a man 

 would find it impossible to make without the use of a chisel. 

 Whether they are dug with the flippers, or bored, or bitten 

 out with the bill, does not appear to be known. Eggs vary- 

 ing in numbers from 120 to 150 are deposited in each shaft, 

 and covered loosely with the spoil from the excavation. 



When the young are hatched only those on top are able 

 to clamber out. They represent but a very small percent- 

 age of the family. The majority die miserably, being 

 unable to get out of what is their tomb as well as their 

 birthplace. In the vicinity are sandy beaches on which 

 other hawksbill turtle deposit their eggs in accordance 

 with time-honoured plans, and successfully rear large families. 

 Why some individuals should be at such pains to defeat the 

 universal instinct for the propagation and preservation of 

 their species, is a puzzle. Moreover, hundreds of these 

 anomalous nests are excavated some distance beyond 



