10 CHELONIAD^E. 



the eggs are considered a great delicacy. It does not 

 generally attain to more than one-third the size of the 

 Green Turtle. 



The shell of this species is depressed, rather longer in 

 proportion to its breadth than the other species, and some- 

 what heart-shaped. It is covered with thirteen imbricated 

 plates, each of which in the young state has the apex 

 pointed; but in older individuals this is entirely worn 

 away. The margin has plates, which are prominent at the 

 posterior and exterior angle, especially those towards the 

 hinder part, so as to form sharp and strong denticulations. 

 The under side, or sternum, has twelve plates ; and there 

 are two carinse which run through its whole length from 

 the anterior to the posterior margin; these ridges, how- 

 ever, are worn off by age ; but they were very evident in 

 the individual from which the present figures were taken, 

 and which I had alive for a short time in my possession. 

 The head is rather elongated, flattened above, and com- 

 pressed at the sides in front of the eyes, so that the beak 

 is less arched than in any other species of the genus. The 

 head is covered with fourteen scales, to which, in zoological 

 language, different names are given from their situation. 

 The upper and lower jaws are covered with a horny 

 beak, as before described ; they are not denticulated at 

 the edges ; they are sharp, and scarcely sinuous ; and the 

 apex, both in the upper and lower, is sharp and hooked, 

 that of the under shutting within that of the upper. The 

 feet do not materially differ from those of the species 

 generally, of the marine form, as before described. The 

 tail is conical, and is so short, that it does not extend 

 beyond the posterior margin of the shell. 



The colour of the upper parts is yellow, marbled or 

 splashed with a deep rich brown ; the plates of the head 



