94 THE GREEN TURTLE. 



come to the surface to take breath, and will splash about at times quite merrily, as 

 though ignorant that their destiny tended towards conversion into soup and cutlets. 

 At the best, however, they are lethargic, awkward creatures. 



About half a dozen fine Turtle were conveyed on board our ship during my stay at 

 the Island of Ascension : they were unwieldy monsters, measuring rather more than 

 four feet six inch s in length, and about three feet in breadth. They were allowed to 

 lie either in the boats, or on the after-part of the poop, and seldom disturbed themselves 

 unless the vessel gave an extra roll, or they were stirred up by a pail of water being 

 thrown over them or a wet swab rubbed over their hooked beaks. 



Their tenacity of life was remarkable ; they remained on board ship during upwards 

 of three weeks without any food, and their only refresher was a cold bath, derived 

 from the before-mentioned pail of water, which they usually received with a dreamy 

 lengthy sort of hiss. Even after their three weeks' starvation, they died very hard. 

 One, whose throat was cut in the morning, and from whose body numerous eggs had 

 been extracted, was giving an occasional flap with her fins late in the afternoon ; the 

 fact of her throat having been cut and her body otherwise mutilated appeared merely 

 to produce the effect of ultimately damaging her constitution, and I have grave doubts 

 whether the fact of her ceasing to move was not as much due to the destruction of the 

 various membranes as to the extinction of her reptilian life." 



As these animals are large and very powerful, it is not a very easy task to secure 

 and bring them on board. The usual plan is to intercept them as they are traversing 

 the sands, and to turn them over on their backs, where they lie until they can be re- 

 moved. Many of the tortoise tribe can recover their position when thus overturned, 

 but the Green Turtle is quite unable to restore itself to its proper attitude, and lies 

 helplessly sprawling until it is lifted into the boat and taken on board. In many cases 

 the creature is so enormously heavy that the united strength of the pursuers is inade- 

 quate to the task, and they are consequently forced to employ levers and so to tilt it 

 over. 



Sometimes the Turtle is fairly chased in the water and struck with a curious kind of 

 harpoon, consisting of an iron head about ten inches in length, and a staff nearly twelve 

 feet long. The head is only loosely slipped into a socket on the staff, and the two are 

 connected with a cord. Two men generally unite in this chase, one paddling the canoe 

 and the other wielding the harpoon. They start towards the most likely spots, and 

 look carefully at the bottom of the sea, where it is about six or ten feet in depth, to 

 see whether the expected prey is lying at its ease and does not perceive them. 



Sometimes they are forced to give chase to a Turtle on the surface, and sometimes 

 the individual on which they had fixed, takes the alarm, and swims away. In either case 

 they continually pursue the single swimming reptile, until it is fatigued with constant 

 irritation, and sinks to the bottom to rest. No sooner has the Turtle assumed this posi- 

 tion than the harpooner lowers his weapon into the water, takes an accurate aim, and 

 then drives the steel spike deep into the shell. Off dashes the Turtle, carrying with it the 

 harpoon. Were it not for the peculiar construction of the harpoon, the weapon would 

 soon be shaken off, and the Turtle escape, but as the shaft slips readily off the head, 

 there is no leverage and the steel head remains fixed, towing after it the long wooden 

 shaft, which soon tires out the poor victim. When thoroughly fatigued, it is drawn to 

 the surface, a rope put round it, and either taken into the boat or hauled ashore. 



The food of this Turtle consists of vegetable substances, mostly algae, which is 

 found in great abundance in those warm climates. This animal grows to a very great 

 size, as may be imagined from the fact that it often requires the united aid of three 

 men to turn it over. A very pure limpid oil is obtained from these species, useful for 

 burning in lamps and other similar purposes. A fat full-grown specimen will some- 

 times furnish thirty pints of this substance. 



The eggs of the Turtle are thought as great delicacies as its flesh, and it is rather 

 a remarkable fact, that although the flesh of the hawksbill Turtle is distasteful to all 

 palates and hurtful to many constitutions, the eggs are both agreeable in flavor and 

 perfectly harmless. It is while the female Turtle is visiting shore for the purpose of 

 depositing her eggs that she is usually captured, as these sea-loving reptiles care 



