IIAEVEST OF TUKTLES' EGGS. 127 



Indians arraxi^ tlie lar2:est and by fai* the most abundant 

 of the tortoises inhabiting the Orinoco, is about two feet 

 in length, and weighs fifty pounds. It commences to 

 deposit its eggs in the month of February, when the river 

 has fallen to its lowest level, leaving dry the playas, or 

 sand-bars. Nights are selected for the laying, when the 

 tortuga crawls upon the beach, excavating with its hind- 

 flappers a hole in which from sixty to one hundred and 

 fifty eggs are deposited. It then refills the pit with sand, 

 and smooths it over so as to obliterate all traces of its 

 work. The parent then retires to the water, leaving her 

 eijijs to the fostering: influence of the sun. During the 

 height of the laying season, the gathering of turtles is so 

 great, says Father Gumilla, " that the multitudes already 

 out prevent the passage of still greater numbers, which, 

 with heads above water, are waiting a chance to pass on." 

 Scarcely has the laying com.menced before the Indians 

 begin their preparations for gathering the eggs. To de- 

 termine the limits of a stratum of eggs, or to discover 

 scattering nests in the playas, the Indian uses a pole, on 

 thrusting which into the sand, a sudden yielding denotes 

 the presence of the sough t-for treasure. Where the tortugas 

 have frequented the most, the beach is one vast layer of 

 eggs ; for the turtles, in their zeal to make their deposits, 

 are regardless of the rights of others, one destroying the 

 nest of another, and scattering its contents in every direc- 

 tion, until the sand becomes literally filled with eggs to 

 the average depth, according to Humboldt, of three feet. 

 The eggs are sjiheiucal, about one and a quarter inch in 

 diameter, with a calcareous shell, that is soft and coria- 

 ceous. The yolk floats in oil instead of in albumen, which 

 gives the eggs their value. The manner of procuring the 

 oil is to place the eggs in canoes or large wooden trouglis, 

 where they are broken by sticks, or trodden by children, 

 when water is added, and the wdiole left exposed to the 



