THE TURTLES OF SAND-KEY ISLAND. 195 



seven or eight hundred pounds ; but the largest are 

 by no means the best. Those weighing under forty- 

 pounds are greatly preferred. At New Orleans, I 

 heard of a monstrous green turtle which was taken at 

 Port Eoyal, in 1848, in Campeachy Bay, and which 

 measured four feet in thickness from the back to the 

 belly, and was six feet broad across the belly. The son 

 of a sea-captain, a lad of ten or eleven years, had the 

 shell of this monster given to him, and had it made 

 into a canoe, or coracle, in which he would venture 

 out some distance from shore. The fat of this 

 creature produced eight gallons of oil. 



The cleverest fisherman at Key West* (where 1 

 went to spend a few days during the summer of 1848) 

 was a man named Downing. All along the Floridan 

 coast Downing, the mulatto, was known as the great 

 catcher and dealer in turtles. Mr. Elliott, of Sa- 

 vannah, a gentleman to whom I had been introduced 

 by a New York friend, gave me a note to Downing, 

 who received me very kindly when I arrived at Fort 

 Imperial, where he spent all the fishing season in a 

 delightful little house. 



" I take such an introduction, sir,'^ said Downing, 

 " as a compliment, and will do my best to make your 

 visit agreeable to you. As you can spend two or 



. * Key West, or Thompson Island, is about fifty miles from the 

 coast of Florida, and derives its name from the Spanish word Oavo 

 (a rocky islet), and not, as some apprehend, from the English word 

 Key. As a military post, it is of great importance to the States, and 

 a considerable amount of trade is transacted there. 



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