124 '^^^ Turtle 



them into the vicinity of food to be obtained without 



effort. Carefully he welds a ring round their tails in 



such wise that it cannot be pulled off, and to it he 



attaches a thin, strong line ; then, putting out to sea 



with six or seven of his unwilling helpers attached to 



the bottom of his sampan, he gets a good offing, and 



waits patiently for the appearance of a Turtle asleep 



upon the sea. As soon as his keen eyes have detected 



one, he paddles noiselessly in that direction until, 



getting near enough, he ships his paddle and,with a long 



bamboo, pushes off one or two or more of his Remorae. 



Now all he needs to do is to keep them from fastening 



on to the canoe again, for they speedily discover the 



Turtle and attach themselves to him. When they have 



done so, the quaint yellow fisherman in the boat needs 



but to haul in, for you may, by pulling upon a Remorae 



from aft, tear him in two pieces, but you cannot make 



him let go his hold. And so despite his struggles, the 



poor turtle must come, and presently yield himself to 



be made soup of for the delectation of some ' number 



one ' mandarin. This is also the method pursued by 



some of the coast tribes of Eastern Africa, whose 



appearance would seem to give the lie to any suggestion 



of such a standard of intelligence as would utilise the 



Remorae in so ingenious a way. 



Our method, if I may call it so, of capturing the 

 Turtle is much less elaborate. Certain places are known 

 to be favourite haunts of the Turtle for egg-laying 

 purposes. Then all that is necessary is some safe 

 reservoir where the captured creatures may be kept 

 awaiting shipment, and a band of labourers who do not 

 object to night-work. When there is a good moon, 

 not necessarily full, we hide ourselves in convenient 

 quarters adjacent to the beach, and wait more or less 

 patiently until we see the first broad back, glistening in 



