Depositing Eggs. 261 



but should every thing be quiet, she advances slowly to- 

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

 full stretch of her neck, and when she has reached 

 place fitted for her purpose she gazes all round 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, scooping it out with so much dex- 

 terity 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 her- 

 self with her head and fore part on the ground fronting 

 her body, 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 

 labor 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 a hundred 

 and fifty, or sometimes two hundred. The whole time 

 spent in this part of the operation may be about twenty 

 minutes. She now scrapes the loose sand back over the 

 eggs, and so levels them and smooths the surface, that 

 few persons on seeing the spot could imagine any thing 

 had been done to it. This accomplished to her mind, 

 she retreats to the water with all possible despatch, leav- 

 ing the hatching of the eggs to the heat of the sand. 

 When a turtle, a logger-head for example, is in the act of 

 dropping her egg, she will not move, although one should 

 go up to her, or even seat himself on her back, for it 

 seems that at this moment she finds it necessary to pro- 

 ceed at all events, and is unable to intermit her labor. 

 The moment it is finished, however, 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. To upset 

 a turtle on the shore one is obliged to fall on his knees, 



