G7U 



A HISTORY OF 



her proceed to her greatest distance from the 

 sea ; and then, when she is most busily em- 

 ployed in scratching a hole in the sand, they 

 sally out and surprise her. Their manner is 

 to turn her upon her back, which utterly inca- 

 pacitates her from moving; and yet, as the 

 creature is very strong, and struggles very 

 hard, two men find it no easy matter to Jay 

 her over. When thus secured they go to the 

 next ; and in (his manner, in less than three 

 hours, they have been known to turn forty or 

 fifty turtles, each of which weighs from a 

 hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds. 

 Labat assures us, that when the animal is in 

 this helpless situation, it is heard to sigh very 

 heavily, and even to shed tears. 



At present, from the great appetite that 

 man has discovered for this animal, they are 

 not only thinned in their numbers, but are 

 also grown much more shy. There are seve- 

 ral other ways, therefore, contrived for taking 

 them. One is, to seize them when coupled 

 together, at the breeding season, when they 

 are very easily approached, and as easily 

 seen; for these animals, though capable ol 

 living for some time under water, yet rise 

 every eiajht or ten minutes to breath. As 



i i 1 



Boon as they are thus perceived, two or three 

 people draw near them in a canoe, and slip 

 a noose either round their necks or one of 

 their feet. If they have no line, they lay 

 hold of them by the neck, where they have 



no shell, with their hands only ; and by this 

 means they usually catch them both together. 

 But sometimes the female escapes, being 

 more shy than the male. 



Another \vay of taking them is by the har- 

 poon, either when they arc playing on the 

 surface of the water, or feeding at the bot- 

 tom; when the harpoon is skilfully darted, it 

 sticks fast in the shell of the back ; the wood 

 then disengages from the iron, and the line is 

 long enough for the animal to take its range; 

 for if the harpooner should attempt at once 

 to draw the animal into his boat till it is 

 weakened by its own struggling, it would pro- 

 bably get free. Thus tht! turtle struggles 

 hard to get loose, but all in vain; for they 

 take care the line fastened to the harpoon 

 shall be strong enough to hold it. 



There is yet another way which, though 

 seemingly awkward, is said to be attended 

 with very great success. A good diver places 

 himself at the head of the boat ; and when 

 the turtles are observed, which they some- 

 times are in great numbers, asleep on the 

 surface, he immediately quits the vessel, at 

 about fifty yards distance, and keeping still 

 under water, directs his passage to where 

 the turtle was seen, and comil% up beneath, 

 seizes it by the tail ; the animal awaking, 

 struggles to get free ; and by this both are 

 kept at the surface until the boat arrives to 

 take them in. 



CHAPTER CL1I1. 



OF THE SHELL OF TESTACEOUS FISHES. 



' ONE is apt to combine very dissimilar ob- 

 jects in the same group, when hurried into 

 the vortex of method. No two animals are 

 more unlike each other than the whale and 

 the limpet, the tortoise and the oyster. Yet, 

 as these animals must find some place in the 

 picture of Animated Nature, it is best to let 

 them rest in the station where the generality 

 of mankind have assigned them ; and as they 

 have been, willing to give them all from their 



abode the name of fishes, it is wisest in us to 

 conform. 



But before I enter into any history of shell- 

 fish, it may not be improper to observe, that 

 naturalists who have treated on this part of 

 history, have entirely attended to outward 

 forms; and, as in many other instances, for- 

 saking the description of the animal itself, 

 have exhausted all their industry in describ- 

 ing the habitation. In consequence of this 



