1 69 1.] LAND tuj;tles. 71 



seen one^ that weigli'd one hundred pound, and had llesh 

 enough about it, to feed a good number of Men. This 

 Flesh is very wholsom, and tasts something like INIutton, 

 but 'tis more delicate : The Fat is extreamly white, and 

 never Congeals nor rises in your Stomach, eat as much as 

 you will of it. We all unanimously agreed, 'twas better 

 than the best Butter in Europe. To anoint one's self with 

 this Oil, is an excellent Eemedy for Surfeits, Colds, Cramps 

 and several other Distempers. The Liver of this Animal is 

 extraordinarily delicate,- 'tis so Delicious that one may say of 

 it, it always carries its own Sauce with it, dress it how you 

 will 



The Bones of these Turtles are Massy ; I mean they have 

 no Marrow in them. Every one knows, that these Animals 

 in general are hatch'd of Eggs. The Land-Turtles lay theirs 

 in the Sand, and cover them,^ that they may be hatcli'd* : The 

 Scale of it, or rather the Shell, is soft, and the Substance 

 within good to eat. There are such plenty of Land-Turtles 

 in this Isle, that sometimes you see two or three thousand of 

 them in a Flock ; so that one may go above a hundred Paces 

 on their Backs ; or, to speak more properly on their Cara- 

 p.acefi, without setting foot to the Ground. They meet to- 

 gether in the Evening in shady Places, and lie so close, that 

 one wou'd think those Places were pav'd with them. There 's 

 one thing very odd among them ; they always place Sentinels 

 at some Distance from their Troop, at the four corners c^f 

 their Camp, to which the Sentinels turn their Backs, and 



' In orig. : " J'cn ai vu qui peseut," etc. 



- '' Et fort gros a proportion de I'animal ; car une tortue qui n'a que 

 quinze livres de chair, a le foye de cinq a six livres," omitted in trans- 

 lation. 



3 In orig. : "& les en couvrent, pour les faire eclorre doucement au 

 Soleil." 



* " Ces oeufs sont ronds en tous sens, comnie des billes de billard, 

 et de la grosseur des oeufs de poules," omitted in translation. 



