A HIDDEN HIGHWAY. 125 



tie-bones almost equal in number those of our 

 larger fishes. Have we a clew here to the mys- 

 tery ? Do the turtles of to-day inherit a fear of 

 man ? This may seem an absurdity, or verging 

 toward it, but it is not. A critic at my elbow a 

 plague upon their race ! reminds me that I once 

 commented upon the tameness of the turtles at 

 Lake Hopatcong, in northern New Jersey, and 

 adds, aggravatingly, that that region was a favor- 

 ite resort of the Indians. If this stricture holds, 

 then I can suggest for the Delaware Valley tur- 

 tles that it is a fear, born with each generation, 

 of the railway cars that hourly rumble over an 

 elastic road-bed, and cause the whole meadows to 

 tremble. Terror may seize the turtles when they 

 feel their world shake beneath them, and this dis- 

 turbance they may attribute to man's presence. 

 This is not so rational, and I do know that turtles 

 distinguish between men and domestic animals. 

 They are not afraid of cows; of this I have 

 abundant proof, although I do not accept as true 

 the remark of Miles Overfield : " Afeard o' cattle ? 

 Not much. Why, I've seen tortles line a cow's 

 back, when she stood flank-deep in the water." 



I had noticed that the narrow, tube-like chan- 

 nel of the obliterated ditch grew less defined as 

 I dug in one direction, so I paced off a rod 

 in advance and made a cross-section. Here it 

 could not be traced, but a half-dozen very small 



