TORTOISES AND TURTLES. 45 



<o conspicuous a part in our great public feasts. 

 The home of this creature is in the Atlantic, 

 [ndian and Pacific Oceans, and throughout this 

 rast area it roamed at one time in abundance, 

 though the numbers are now greatly reduced. 

 I Large specimens attain a weight of more than 

 |uhree hundredweight. 



It is from the horny shields of the Hawks- 

 bill Turtle, of tropical and sub-tropical seas, that 

 ibhe world's supply of tortoise-shell is obtained. 

 jThe removal of these shields is in many cases 

 accompanied by the most revolting barbarity. 

 The miserable victim is held over a fire till 

 the heat makes the coveted horny plate part 

 j from the bony shell, after which the poor beast 

 I is allowed to escape to the sea there to die a 

 I lingering death. This end is not, however, 

 believed in by the brutes who inflict this 

 torture. They believe that once in the sea a 

 new set of plates will be developed, and thus 

 a crop will be assured for future harvests. 

 Such is the practice of the Singalhese. The 

 natives of Celebes are more humane. Their 

 prisoner is killed by blows on the head, and 

 the body immersed in boiling water, with the 

 desired result. 



Shields are rarely thick enough to use for 

 commercial purposes as they leave the body. 

 Accordingly several are welded together by 

 being heated in oil or boiled. Even the 

 shavings can be melted and moulded into large 

 pieces. 



Other species of turtles there are, but con- 

 siderations of space not only forbids their 



