THE MARINE TURTLE DESCRIBED. 339 



Pisces would give the observer no more conception of its 

 possible edible qualities than the first glance at an oyster; 

 and we may suggest to our readers as a question for then- 

 grave consideration, Who first invented turtle-soup 1 

 The marine tortoises, or turtles, are ungainly in the ex- 

 treme, and apparently consist of little more than a small 

 head, four flippers, and a strong oval shield of bone, 

 coated externally by hard, horny plates, and known as a 

 carapace. There is nothing in them to please the eye, 

 agreeable as they may be to the taste ! They have no 

 legs, but fin-like paddles, which are useful for swimming 

 but not for walking. The fore limbs are much longer 

 than the hind limbs. The toes are not all furnished with 

 nails ; in some species, indeed, there is but one in each 

 foot, though in others there are two. They are aquatic 

 in their habits, only visiting the shore for the purpose of 

 depositing their eggs, which they stow away in holes 

 scraped in the warm moist sand with their hind feet. 

 Their fecundity is considerable ; for they lay several times 

 in a year, and as many as one hundred and fifty to two 

 hundred eggs at a time.. Their too rapid increase, how- 

 ever, is prevented by the number of their enemies ; for 

 man is not singular in his partiality for turtles' eggs. 



These eggs are hatched by the heat of the sun, and the 

 young turtles, which never receive any parental attention, 

 as soon as they struggle into life disembarrass themselves 

 of their sandy covering, and make their way to the water. 

 On land their gait, we may add, is singularly awkward 

 and ungraceful ; but in their natural element they move 

 with swiftness and comparative facility. 



Their diet varies according to their species. Some feed 

 upon crustaceans, molluscs, and fishes, and the strength 



