Turtles.] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



79 



entangled in nets, or when wounded, loud roars, re- 

 sounding to a great distance. 



Fig. 2113 represents a scene of turtle-catching by 

 night on one of the West India Islands (a, the 

 Green Turtle, Chelonia midas ; b, the Hawksbill 

 Turtle, Ch. imbricata). 



It is on such a low sandy beach as that depicted, 

 that the turtles deposit their eggs, taking caie that 

 they are placed beyond high- water mark. " On 

 nearing the shore," says M. Audubon, " and mostly 

 on fine calm moonlight nights, the turtle raises her 

 head above the water, being still distant thirty or 

 forty yards from the beach, looks around her, and at- 

 tentively examines the objects on sliore. Should 

 she observe nothing likely to disturb her intended 

 operations, she emits a loud hissing sound, by which 

 such of her enemies as are unaccustomed to it are 

 startled, and so apt to remove to another place, al- 

 though unseen by her. Should she he_ar any more 

 noise, or perceive any indications of danger, she in- 

 stantly sinks and goes off to a distance ; but should 

 everything be quiet, she advances slowly towards 

 the beach, crawls over it, her head raised to the 

 full stretch of her neck, and when she has reached 

 a place fitted for her purpose she gazes all around in 

 silence. Finding all well, she proceeds to form a 

 hole in the sand, which she effects by removing it 

 from under her body with her hind-flappers, scoop- 

 ing it out with so much dexterity that the sides 

 seldom if ever fall in. The sand is raised alternately 

 with each flapper, as with a large ladle, until it has 

 accumulated behind her, when, supporting herself 

 with her head and fore-part on the ground, she with 

 a. spring from each flapper sends the sand around 

 her, scattering it to the distance of several feet. In 

 this manner the hole is dug to the depth of eighteen 

 inches or sometimes more than two feet. This 

 labour I have seen performed in the short period of 

 nine minutes. The eggs are then dropped one by 

 one, and disposed in regular layers, to the number 

 of one hundred and fifty, or sometimes nearly two 

 hundred. The whole time spent in this operation 

 may be about twenty minutes. She now scrapes 

 the loose sand back over the eggs, and so levels and 

 smooths the surface, that few persons seeing the 

 spot would imagine that anything had been done to 

 it. This accomplished to her mind, she retreats to 

 the water with all possible despatch, leaving the 

 hatching of the eggs to the heat of the sand'. When 

 a turtle or loggerhead, for example, is in the act of 

 dropping her eggs, she will not move, although one 

 Rhouid go up to her, or even seat himself on her 

 back ; but tiie moment it is finished, off she starts, 

 nor would it then be possible for one, unless he were 

 as strong as Hercules, to turn her over and secure 

 her." 



It is at this crisis that the turtle fishery is carried 

 on. " In spite," says Count Lacepede, " of the 

 darkness which is chosen by the female tortoises for 

 concealment when employed in laying their eggs, 

 they cannot effectually escape from the pursuit of 

 their enemies: the fishers wait for them on the 

 shore, at the beginning of the night, especially 

 when it is moonlight, and, as they come from 

 the sea, or as they return after laying their eggs, 

 they either despatch them with blows of a club, or 

 turn them quickly over on their backs, not giving 

 them time either to defend themselves, or to blind 

 their assailants, by throwing up the sand with their 

 fins. When very large, it requires the efforts of 

 several men to turn them over, and they must often 

 employ the assistance of handspikes or levers for 

 that purpose. The buckler of this species is so flat 

 as to render it impossible for the animal to recover 

 the recumbent posture, when it is once turned on 

 its back. 



" A small number of fishers may turn over forty 

 or fifty tortoises, full of eggs, in less than three 

 hours. During the day, they are employed in 

 securing those which they had caught in the pre- 

 ceding night. They cut them up, and salt the flesh 

 and the eggs. Sometimes they may extract above 

 thirty pints of a yellow or greenish oil from one 

 large individual ; this is employed for burning, or 

 when fresh is used with different kinds of food. 

 Sometimes they drag the tortoises they have caught, 

 on their backs, to enclosures, in which they are 

 reserved for occasional use. 



" The tortoise-Kshers from the West Indies and 

 the Bahamas, who catch these animals on the coast 

 of Culja and its adjoining islands, particularly the 

 Caimans, usually complete their cargoes in six 

 weeks or two months ; they afterwards return to 

 their own islands with the salted turtle, which is 

 used for food both by the whites and the negroes. 

 This salt turtle is in as great request in the Ame- 

 rican colonies as the salted cod of Newfoundland 

 is in many parts of Europe ; and the fishing is fol- 

 lowed by all these colonists, particularly by the 

 British, in small vessels, on various parts of the 

 coast of Spanish America, and the neighbouring 

 desert islands. 



" The green turtle is likewise often caught at sea 



in calm weather, and in moonlight nights. For i 

 this purpose two men go together in a small boat, 

 which is rowed by one of them, while the other is 

 provided with a harpoon, similar to that used for 

 killing whales. Whenever they discover a large I 

 tortoise, by the froth which it occasions on the 

 water in rising to the surface, they hasten to the [ 

 spot as quickly as possible, to prevent it from 

 escaping. The harpooner immediately throws his 

 harpoon with sufficient force to penetrate through 

 the buckler to the flesh ; the tortoise instantly 

 dives, and the fisher gives out a line, which is 

 fixed to the harpoon, and when the tortoise is 

 spent with loss of blood, it is hauled into the boat or 

 on shore." 



2114. — The Hawk's-bill Turtle 



(Chelonia imbricata). La Caret, Lacepede. 



This species is well known, and much sought after 

 for the sake of the scales of the carapace, which are 

 the tortoiseshell of commerce ; and which are cruelly 

 separated from the living animal by presenting the 

 convex surface to a glowing fire ; as is done at 

 Exeter Island, and other places where the fishery of 

 this animal is carried on. It appears that after this 

 barbarous operation the poor creatures are set at 

 liberty, in order, as the shell grows again, that ano- 

 ther crop of tortoiseshell may, in a future year, be 

 taken : the second shell, however, is very thin and 

 inferior. The eggs of this turtle are excellent, but 

 the flesh is bad. 



The hawk's-biU turtle is not only an inhabitant of 

 the warmer latitudes of the American seas, it fre- 

 quents the Islands of Bourbon, the Seychelles, Am- 

 boyna, New Guinea, and the Indian Seas. Three 

 instances are on record of its having been captured 

 on our shores. It attains to a large size, but seldom 

 equals the green turtle, which often weighs three, 

 four, or five hundred pounds, and sometimes even 

 eight hundred, measuring six or seven feet in length. 



2115. — The Leathery Turtle 



(Spargis coriacea). Testudo Lyra, Bechst. Tortue 

 Luth of the French. 



In the genus Spargis the osseus structure of the 

 carapace and plastron is covered with a leathery 

 skin, instead of plates, tuberculous in the young, 

 smooth in adults, with seven longitudinal-ridsed 

 dorsal lines, slightly serrated. The plastron has five 

 tuberculous ridges. The paddles have no distinct 

 nails. In the leathery tortoise the muzzle is pointed, 

 the jaws are of enormous power, and the upper has 

 an acute tooth-like prominence at the anterior part 

 on each side, with a deep indentation behind, and a 

 triangular excavation anteriorly between the two 

 teeth, for the reception of the shar.p turned-up apex 

 of the lower jaw. The opening of the eyelids is almost 

 vertical, and when closed the edge of the posterior 

 (or lower) covers that of the anterior. The anterior 

 paddles are immensely developed. This gigantic 

 tortoise occasionally weighs from sixteen to seven- 

 teen hundred pounds ; and stray individuals have 

 been captured both on our shores and those of the 

 adjacent continent, weighing seven or eight hun- 

 dred. This species is found in the Atlantic, the Pa- 

 cific, and Indian Oceans. It regularly visits the 

 Tortueas, or Turtle islands of Florida, for the purpose 

 of depositing its eggs, arriving there, according to 

 Audubon, later than the other species, and being 

 moreover less cautious in choosing a place for their 

 concealment. The number of eggs which it de- 

 posits is about three hundred and fifty, in two sets. 

 It is occasionally seen in the Mediterranean, and is 

 said by Latreille to breed on the sandy shores of 

 Barbary. When attacked and wounded, this turtle 

 utters loud and piercing cries, which have been 

 heard at the distance of a quarter of a league. Though 

 I very fat, the flesh is coarse and hard, and has been 

 known to produce most severe effects in persons 

 who have partaken of it ; we cannot however af- 

 firm that it is poisonous. 



Fig. 2116 represents the Plastron of the Leathery 

 Turtle. 



ORDER SAURIA (LIZARDS). 



This order includes a vast assemblage of living 

 beings, from the ferocious crocodile to the harmless 

 little lizard of our copses, or the arboreal chameleon 

 of the borders of the Mediterranean. It is in the 

 glowing regions of the intertropics that these beings 

 abound, a few species only, and those of small size, 

 tenanting our latitudes. 



Great is the diversity of form and habits among 

 the Sauria : some are more or less aquatic, some ar- 

 boreal, others strictly terrestrial, and a few on ex- 

 panded parachutes are capable of skimming, like the 

 flying squirrel, from tree to tree. The limbs are in 

 general four, the figure is elongated, always ter- 

 mmating in a tail ; the body is covered either by hard 

 horny or bony plates, by scales or by granulations. 

 The eyes, excepting in certain instances, are pro- 

 tected by eyelids. Generally a tympanic membrane 



covers the external orifice of the organs of hearing. 

 The tongue differs greatly in form ; in some it is a 

 rudiment, in some long and forked, in others fleshy ; 

 it, is lubricated by a glutinous saliva. All are as a 

 rule oviparous. The ribs are movable, and in part 

 attached to the breast-bone (sternum) ; but besides 

 these, in some the abdominal parietes are supported, 

 by a series of slender rib-like bones, free, but con- 

 verging to a medial line. The mouth is armed 

 with teeth ; the lungs are extensive. Most if not 

 all change their cuticle, and like the snake appear 

 in brighter colours. Hybernation is gervjral. 



Family CROCODILID.'E (CROCODILES). 



Many writers regard the crocodiles as forming a dis- 

 tinct order, under the term Loricata] (Kmydosauri, 

 Gray), in allusion to the peculiar coat of hard mail 

 by which they are protected. ''Jhey are distin- 

 guished," says Mr. Bell, "by several important cha- 

 racters ; of these the most tangible and obvious is 

 that upon which the name of the order (Loricata) is 

 founded, the covering of the whole back part of the 

 neck, body, and tail presenting distinct series of bones 

 of moderate size, imbedded as it were in the sub- 

 stance of the skin, and covered externally with a 

 cuticle. These dermal bones are usually furnished 

 with a crest, which renders them exceedingly strong, 

 and they altogether form a panoply of defence which 

 can resist the attacks of the most powerful enemies 

 of whatever kind." 



We need not say that these animals are fierce and 

 carnivorous ; they often take their prey in the water, 

 retiring to some retreat on the shore in order to de- 

 vour it, and relish it in a state of putrescence. 



The tail is long, thick, muscular, and compressed ; 

 it is ridged above. The limbs are short ; the an- 

 terior feet have five toes, of which the two outer- 

 most are destitute of a nail ; the hinder feet have four 

 toes more or less united by intervening webs. The 

 head is depressed above, furrowed and rugged. The 

 jaws are enormous, and the teeth are numerous, 

 thick, of unequal length, of a conical figure, and 

 hollow at the ijase, which receives, when implanted 

 in the socket, the germ of the tooth destined to re- 

 place it (see Fig, 2117) ; they are arranged in a line 

 at a distance from each other, the intervals mutually ■ 

 receiving the teeth of the opposite jaw, when both 

 are closed. The auditory orifice is protected by a 

 strong movable lid or valve capable of being raised 

 or shut down at pleasure. The eyes are small, but 

 bright, and the pupil is vertical and linear. Besides 

 the outer eyelitis there is a transparent membrana 

 nictitans. The nostrils are seated at the extremity 

 of the muzzle on its upper aspect ; they are close 



1 together and valvular ; the nasal canals do not open, 

 into the mouth, but into a post-oral space, divided 

 from the mouth by a valvular cartilaginous expan- 

 sion of the OS hyoides, which is so accurately ad- 

 justed to a depending portion of the palate as com- 

 pletely to bound the back of the mouth ; hence, if 

 the nostrils only are raised above the water, the cro- 

 codile may keep the mouth open below or hold his 

 prey to drown, himself breathing at ease. In the 

 act of swallowing, the valve is drawn down by the 

 muscles of deglutition, so as to leave for an instant 

 the passage free, and the food bolted in large 

 masses, is received into the dilatable gullet. The 

 space between the two branches of the lower jaw is 

 muscular, covered internally with a yellow skin, 

 full of glands, whence oozes a viscid saliva. This 

 part represents the tongue, if indeed we may not 



: say that this organ is wanting. Beneath the throat 

 are two large musk glands opening externally by 



: small orifices, whence exudes an unctuous matter, of 

 a strong odour. It is difficult to conjecture its use. 

 These fierce reptiles are divided into three groups 

 or genera : Alligators or Caimans ; true Crocodiles ; 

 and Gavials. 



2118. — Thb Pike-kosed Caiman or Alligator 



(Alligator Lucius). The caimans (or caymans) are 

 peculiar to America, and distinguished by the fol- 

 lowing characters :— the head is broad ; the muzzle 

 oblong and depressed ; the teeth are of unequal 

 length, and the fourth on each side, from the front 

 teeth, is elongated and received into a cavity of the 

 upper jaw when the mouth is closed ; the hinder 

 limbs are rounded and destitute of the ridged scales 

 down the hinder margin so conspicuous in the true 

 crocodiles, and the webs between the toes are much 

 less developed. See Fig 2119; a, the Hind Leg of 

 the Caiman ; b, of the Crocodile. The form of the 

 Head is well depicted at Fig. 2120 ; it is of the A. 

 Lucius. 



Several species are known, distinguished among 

 other points by the differences in the arrangement 

 of the cervical osseus plates, which is, however, 

 subject to certain variations even in the same 

 species. 



Fig. 2121 shows the Cervical Plates of the Pike- 



I nosed Caiman (A. Lucius). Fig. 2122 those of the 

 ,Iacar6 (A. Sclerops). Fig. 2123 those of the Spec- 



i| tacled Caiman (A. Palpebrosus). Fig 2124 those of 



