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ENEMIES OF THE TURTLE 345 



blowing or snorting like that of a goose when any one approaches 

 its nest, at the same time inflating its neck a little, are the sole 

 signs of defence which it exhibits. Having thus prepared a 

 comfortable seat, the turtle begins to dig with her hind feet a 

 cylindrical hole about a foot and a half deep, in which she 

 deposits about a hundred eggs, covered with a leathery, flexible, 

 and whitish skin. This being accomplished, the hole is again 

 loosely filled up with sand, and slowly as she came, the turtle, 

 leaving her eggs to be hatched by the sun, returns to her ac- 

 customed element. 



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 swim 

 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 

 to the attacks of many ravenous beasts, from the wild dog to 

 the tiger or jaguar, storks, herons, and other strand- or sea-birds 

 devour thousands upon thousands of the young before they 

 reach the ocean, where sharks and other greedy fishes still 

 further thin their ranks, so that but very few escape from the 

 general massacre, and the whole race can only maintain itself 

 by its great fecundity. 



Of all the foes of the turtle-tribe there is, however, none 

 Inore formidable than man, as even on the most lonely islands 

 the seafarer lies in wait, eager to relieve the monotony of his 

 coarse fare by an abundant supply of their luscious flesh. 



On the isle of Ascension, the head-quarters of the finest 

 turtle in the world, all the movements of the poor creatures 

 are carefully watched, and when, after having deposited their 

 eggs in the sand, they waddle again towards the sea, their re- 

 treat is often intercepted, for two stout hands running up to 

 the unfortunate turtle after the completion of her task, one 

 seizes a fore-flipper and dexterously shoves it under her belly, 

 to serve as a purchase ; whilst the other, avoiding a stroke which 



