

HABYE8T OF Tl RTLE-EGG8. 185 



had given rise among the Whites. The missionary invited 

 us to partake a frugal repast of fish and plantains. He told 

 us that he had come to encamp with the Indians during 

 the time of the * harvest of eggs,' " to celebrate mass every 

 morning in the open air, to procure the oil necessary for the 

 church-lamps, and especially to govern this mixed republic 

 (renublica de Indies y Castellanos) in which every one 

 wished to profit singly by what God had granted to all." 



We made the tour of the island, accompanied by the 

 missionary and by a pulpero, who boasted of having, for ten 

 successive years, visited the camp of the Indians, and at- 

 tended the turtle-fishery. We were on a plain of sand per- 

 fectly smooth ; and were told that, as far as we could see 

 along the beach, turtles' eggs were concealed under a layer 

 of earth. The missionary carried a long pole in his hand. 

 He showed us, that by means of this pole, the extent of the 

 stratum of eggs could be determined as accurately as the 

 miner determines the limits of a bed of marl, of bog iron- 

 ore, or of coal. On thrusting the rod perpendicularly into 

 the ground, the sudden want of resistance shows that the 

 cavity or layer of loose earth containing the eggs, has been 

 reached. We saw that the stratum is generally spread with 

 so much uniformity, that the pole finds it everywhere in a 

 radius of ten toises around any given spot. Here they talk 

 continually of square perches of eggs ; it is like a mining- 

 country, divided into lots, and worked with the great- 

 est regularity. The stratum of eggs, however, is far from 

 covering the whole island : they are not found wherever the 

 ground rises abruptly, because the turtle cannot mount 

 heights. I related to my guides the emphatic description 

 of Father G-umilla, who asserts, that the shores of the 

 Orinoco contain fewer grains of sand than the river con- 

 tains turtles ; and that these animals would prevent vessels 

 from advancing, if men and tigers did not annually destroy 

 so great a number.* " Son cuentos de frailes" " they are 



* " It would be as difficult to count the grains of sand on the shores of 

 the Orinoco, as to count the immense number of tortoises which inhabit 

 its margins and waters. Were it not for the vast consumption of tor- 

 toises and their eggs, the river Orinoco, despite its great magnitude, 

 would be unnavigable, for vessels would be impeded by the enormous 

 multitude of the tortoises." Gumilla, Orinoco Illustrata, vol L pp. 

 331-336. 



