348 



THE HAWKSBILL TURTLE. 



is not unlike a heart in shape ; each of the middle row of 

 scales on the back has an acute form at the tip, and a 

 ridge or carina down the middle. Its fore limbs are 

 longer than in the rest of the tribe, and it is said that 



THE HAWKSBILL TURTLE. 



the animal, when turned or laid on its back, is able, 

 through their assistance, to recover its former position, 

 which no other of the Cheloniadse can do. Its general 

 length is about three feet, though in Indian waters speci- 

 mens have been found measuring fully twice that size. 



Tortoise-shell is afforded by the lamellae, or plates, of 

 its shell. There are thirteen dorsal, while the marginal 

 row consists of twenty-five smaller pieces. They are trans- 

 parent, and richly variegated with whitish, yellowish, red- 

 dish, and dark brown shades and wavy cloud-like streaks. 



This species, says Sir Emerson Tennent, was formerly 

 taken in great numbers in the neighbourhood of Ham- 



