344 TORTOISES AND TURTLES 



active swimmers, kill numbers of fish and reptiles. As their own 

 flesh is held in high estimation, they are caught by hand-lines, a 

 living bait being made use of to attract them, as they will not 

 seize a dead or motionless prey. When they wish to seize their 

 food or to defend themselves, they dart forwards their head and 

 long neck with the velocity of lightning, and are said in this 

 manner to surprise and seize even small birds that incautiously 

 fly too near the surface of the water. They bite lustily with 

 their sharp beak, never quitting their hold till they have fairly 

 scooped out the morsel, so that the fishermen stand in great awe 

 of their powerful mandibles, and generally cut off their head as 

 soon as they are caught, rightly judging this to be the most 

 radical means to prevent any further mischief. 



The turtles, which are likewise inhabitants of the warmer 

 latitudes, though sometimes a strange erratic propensity or 

 mischance will carry them as far from their usual haunts as the 

 North Sea, have, as we all know, a far greater commercial and 

 gastronomic value than all the rest of the tortoise tribes.* 



During the Brazilian summer (December, January, February), 

 colossal turtles are seen everywhere swimming about along the 

 coast, raising their thick round heads above the water, and 

 waiting for the approach of night to land. The neighbouring 

 Indians are their bitterest enemies, killing them whenever they 

 can. Thus these dreary sand coasts, bounded on one side 

 by the ocean and on the other by gloomy primeval forests, 

 offer on all sides pictures of destruction, for the bones and shells 

 of slaughtered turtles everywhere bestrew the ground. Two 

 parallel grooves indicate the path of the turtle after landing ; 

 they are the marks of the four large and long fin-shaped feet or 

 paddles, and between them may be seen a broad furrow where 

 the heavy body trailed along the ground. On following these 

 traces about thirty or forty yards shore-upwards, the huge 

 animal may be found sitting in a flat excavation formed by its 

 circular movements, and in which one half of its body is im- 

 bedded. It allows itself to be handled on all sides without 

 making the least attempt to move away, being probably taught 

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



* For more ample details on tlio Mm-ino Chelonian.'s, see Chap. IX. of " The S. a 

 and its living Wonders." 



