CROCODILES, TURTLES, AND TORTOISES 109 



only other. Crocodilian in Borneo is the Gavial [Garial], 

 Tomistoma schlegelii. This has a long slender snout 

 and is said to be harmless to man, feeding principally 

 on fish. At one time it was regarded as peculiar to 

 Borneo, but it has recently been discovered in the 

 Malay Peninsula. In Borneo its distribution is very 

 local in fact, the only river in Sarawak where it can 

 be said to occur in any abundance is the Sadong ; 

 only stray specimens have been taken elsewhere. 



The Green Turtle, Chelone mydas, is very abundant in 

 the seas round Borneo. At the close of the North- 

 east Monsoon the females lay their eggs in the sandy 

 beaches of some coral islands that lie off the mouth 

 of the Sarawak River. The round eggs are enclosed 

 in a leathery shell, which can easily be torn open with 

 the fingers. The yolk is stiff, pale yellow in colour, 

 and not transparent. These eggs are considered a 

 great delicacy, but the taste for them is certainly an 

 acquired one. The egg-laying has been described as 

 follows * : 



"The turtles on arrival extend round the shore and 

 pair, during which process great fights take place 

 among the males for the females. The latter ascend 

 at night the small sand beaches, which occur at 

 intervals along the coast, and dig deep holes in the 

 sand, the fore-flippers being chiefly used for the 

 task. . . . The number of eggs laid is about 200 : 

 and the females are supposed to come up the beach 

 twice in each season [with an interval of about a 

 month C. H.]. They always ascend with one flowing 

 tide and go to sea again on the next ; consequently a 

 night with the tide becoming high at sunset is the 

 x Fryer, Trans. Linn. Soe. London, (2 Ser.) Zool, XIV. (1910-12), p. 422. 



