Diving for Turtles 



by a black crew whose songs and laughter went roll- 

 ing over the still waters, despite Long John's warn- 

 ing that it would frighten every turtle off the reef. 

 The moon was just rising, the Southern Cross set in 

 brilliants in the south, as the boat slid into the soft 

 sand of Loggerhead. As we tumbled out the boys 

 hauled the barge above high-water mark, after which 

 Long John called the crew together and apportioned 

 them off. Sam Pinckney was to take the point ; Paublo 

 the bight; Dave King the cactus patch, while Tom 

 Mallory was to go right across the island, and Scope 

 down by Soldier Crab Point; and so on until the 

 beach of the long isle of sand, with its bay cedar and 

 cactus topping, was laid out into districts, each in 

 charge of a " boy." Long John and I took our 

 station two hundred yards down the beach, and here, 

 in low tones, he gave me the details of turtle turning. 

 The animals would begin to appear as soon as the 

 moon rose, come slowly ashore, and deposit their 

 eggs, in a hole above tide water, after which they 

 would return to the water by a different route. 



To cover the entire beach the men were stationed 

 along shore, two hundred yards or so apart, where 

 they were supposed to lie concealed, either in the bush 

 or in depressions in the sand. Every half hour they 

 were to walk quietly down to the water's edge and 

 then run rapidly along to the next station, watching 

 out for tracks that led upward. In this way every 

 foot of the shore was covered. The position Long 



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