262 Life of Audubon. 



and placing his shoulder behind her fore-arm, gradually 

 raise her up by pushing with great force, and then with a 

 jerk throw her over. Sometimes it requires the united 

 strength of several men to accomplish this, and if the tur- 

 tle should be of very great size, as often happens on that 

 coast,, even handspikes are employed. Some turtlers are 

 so daring as to swim up to them while lying asleep on 

 the surface of the water, and turn them over in their own 

 element, when, however, a boat must be at hand to ena- 

 ble them to secure their prize. Few turtles can bite be- 

 yond the reach of their fore-legs, and few, when they are 

 once turned over, can^ without assistance, regain their 

 natural position. But notwithstanding this, their flappers 

 are generally secured by ropes, so as to render their es- 

 cape impossible. Persons who search for turtle-eggs are 

 provided with a light stiff cane or gun-rod, with which 

 they go along the shores, probing the sand near the 

 tracks of the animal, which, however, cannot always be 

 seen on account of the winds and heavy rains that often 

 obliterate them. The nests are discovered not only by 

 men but also by beasts of prey, and the eggs are collect- 

 ed or destroyed on the spot in great numbers. 



" On certain parts of the shore hundreds of turtles 

 are known to deposit their eggs within the space of a 

 mile. They form a new hole each time they lay, and the 

 second is generally dug near the first, as if the animal 

 were quite unconscious of what had befallen it. It will 

 readily be understood that the numerous eggs seen in a 

 turtle on cutting it up could not be all laid the same sea- 

 son. The whole number deposited by an individual in 

 one summer may amount to four hundred ; whereas if the 

 animal be caught on or near. her nest, as I have witness- 

 ed, the remaining eggs, all small, without shells, and as 

 it were threaded like so many beads, exceed three thou- 

 sand. In an instance where I found that number, the 

 turtle weighed nearly four hundred pounds. 



