134 HOW THEY FOUND THE EGGS. 



the Superior of the Franciscan Missions, and the brother- 

 in-law of the Governor of Varinas, who accompanied 

 them, soon dissipated the doubts to which their dress, 

 their accent, and their arrival in this sandy island, had 

 given rise among the Whites. The missionary invited 

 them to partake a frugal repast of fish and plantains. 

 He told them 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 in which every one wished 

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



They made the tour of the island, accompanied by the 

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

 successive years, visited the camp of the Indians, and 

 attended the turtle-fishery. They were on a plain of 

 sand perfectly smooth ; and were told that, as far as they 

 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 them, that by means of this 

 pole, the extent of the stratum of eggs could be deter- 

 mined 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 showed that the cavity or layer of 

 loose earth, containing the eggs, had been reached. They 

 saw that the stratum was generally spread with so much 

 uniformity, that the pole found it everywhere in a radius 

 of sixty feet around any given spot. Here they talked 

 continually of square perches of eggs; it was like a 

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

 greatest regularity. The stratum of eggs, however, was 



