b 



ENEMIES OF THE TURTLE. 327 



inaking the least attempt to move away, being probably taught 

 by instinct how useless all endeavours to escape would be. A 

 blowing or snorting like that of a goose when any one ap- 

 proaches its nest, at the same time inflating its neck a little, 

 are the sole signs of defence which it exhibits. 



On the small islands of Talong, on the coast of Borneo, Mr. 

 Brooke had an opportunity of seeing a turtle deposit its ego\si 

 When on the sand it wandered from place to place, and tried 

 several by digging a little, apparently rejecting them as unfit. 

 At length, having made its choice, it buried its nose, and 

 began scooping the sand with its hinder feet in a most delibe- 

 rate and easy manner, throwing the sand to a consideiTible 

 distance. It often stopped in its work and recommenced, and 

 so dug till the body was pretty well buried, and the hole a 

 depth of three or more feet. It then took its station over the 

 hole and began to lay its eggs, which it did at intervals for a 

 length of time, to the number of two hundred and thirty, and 

 all the while was perfectly indifferent to the proximity of 

 numerous spectators. Having deposited the eggs, it filled the 

 hole with its hinder fins, and beat down the ^and both on the 

 spot and all around, and then retired, not directly (for the 

 track would have been a guide to the nest), but in numerous 

 tortuous courses, round and round, and finally took its departure 

 for the sea at a point distant from its eggs. The Malays on 

 watch have small sticks with flags on them, and as each turtle 

 deposits its eggs they mark the spot with one of these, and the 

 following morning take the eggs. With all their vigilance, 

 however, numbers escape their observation, and some nests 

 they purposely spare. 



Similar scenes take place during the dry season throughout 

 the whole of the tropical zone, on every sandy, unfrequented 

 coast : for the same instinct which prompts the salmon to s-wim 

 stream-upwards, the cod to seek elevated submarine banks, or 

 the penguin to leave the high seas and settle for the summer on 

 some dreary rock, attracts also the turtles from distances of 

 fifty or sixty leagues to the shores of desert islands or solitary 

 bays. 



The enemies of the marine chelonians are no less numerous 

 than those of the terrestrial or fluviatile species. While the 

 full-grown turtles, as soon as they leave the water, are exposed 



