1836.] TURTLE HUNTING. 451 



they waved in the evening breeze. These scenes of the 

 tropics are in themselves so delicious, that they almost 

 equal those dearer ones at home, to vi^hich we are bound by 

 each best feeling of the mind. 



The next day I employed myself in examining the very 

 interesting, yet simple structure and origin of these islands. 

 The water being unusually smooth, I waded over the outer 

 flat of dead rock as far as the living mounds of coral, on 

 which the swell of the open sea breaks. In some of the 

 gullies and hollows there were beautiful green and other 

 coloured fishes, and the forms and tints of many of the 

 zoophytes were admirable. It is excusable to grow en- 

 thusiastic over the infinite numbers of organic beings with 

 which the sea of the tropics, so prodigal of life, teems : yet 

 I must confess I think those naturalists who have described^ 

 in well-known words, the submarine grottoes decked with 

 a thousand beauties, have indulged in rather exuberant 

 language. 



April dih. — I accompanied Captain Fitz Roy to an island 

 at the hegid of the lagoon : the channel was exceedingly 

 intricate, winding through fields of delicately branched 

 corals. We saw several turtle, and two boats were then 

 employed in catching them. The water was so clear and 

 shallow, that although at first a turtle quickly dives out of 

 sight, yet in a canoe or boat under sail, the pursuers after 

 no very long chase come up to it. A man standing ready 

 in the bow, at this moment dashes through the water upon 

 the turtle's back; then clinging with both hands by the 

 shell of its neck, he is carried away till the animal becomes 

 exhausted and is secured. It was quite an interesting 

 chase to see the two boats thus doubling about, and the 

 men dashing head foremost into the water trying to seize 

 their prey. Captain Moresby informs me that in the 

 Chagos Archipelago in this same ocean, the natives, by a 

 horrible process, take the shell from the back of the living 

 turtle. *• It is covered with burning charcoal, which causes 

 the outer shell to curl upwards ; it is then forced off with 

 I knife, and before it becomes cold flattened between 



-irds. After this barbarous process the animal is suffered 



regain its native element, where, after a certain time, 

 t new shell is formed; it is, however, too thin to be o 

 niy service, and the animal always appears languishin; 



d sickly." 



When we arrived at the head of the lagoon, we crossed a 



