984 The Zoologist — November, 1867. 



allowed to interfere with this source of emolument, and the turtle form 

 a staple article of food upon the island, being served out twice a week, 

 but the animals are sent to persons in authority in England, and arc 

 supplied to merchant ships at the rate of £2 10s. each. The season 

 was just over when I visited Ascension, and the turtle-ponds contained 

 eighty-two animals. These ponds, two in number, were on the sea- 

 beach, each fifty or sixty feet square, and three or four feet deep, and 

 the sea is allowed to wash into them by two grated channels. All the 

 turtle, however, were in one of these enclosures, and could be seen 

 swimming about, ever and anon raising their stupid-looking heads 

 above the surface and snorting out a jet of water. They seemed to 

 crowd together in one corner, where each wave as it broke sent a rush 

 of fresh sea-water into the pond. Numerous small fishes and crabs 

 swam about them unmolested ; but on inquiry I learned that they are 

 never fed, although they are not unfrequently kept in the reservoirs for 

 a year or more after capture. They were very variously marked, some 

 with large black spots, others with indistinct radiating streaks upon 

 the plate, and several had a large white patch in the middle of the 

 carapace. One in particular was conspicuous from his very peculiar 

 form. Instead of being gently rounded as usual, the carapace was 

 high and terminated in a ridge, which, as he swam about, was elevated 

 fully six inches above the water — a conformation which it appears 

 occasionally, although rarely, occurs. While I was watching them, 

 preparations were made for getting one out of the pond. A negro 

 walked into the midst of them, and having selected one, he tied a cord 

 round one of the anterior fins, by which it was pulled by several other 

 negroes out of the pond by main force, and laid upon its back on a 

 small four-wheeled carriage prepared for it, in which helpless position 

 it was dragged away without a struggle. 



On the lava rock adjacent, where the waves break with great 

 violence, great numbers of beautifully coloured crabs {Grapsi) ran 

 actively about; the pools abounded with large purplc-spined Echini, 

 esconced in round hollows, and beautiful azure, and banded rock fish, 

 but the only seaweed I observed was the cosmopolitan peacock's-tail 

 (Padi/ta pavoitia). My exploration, however, was necessarily brief, 

 as it was necessary forthwith to rejoin the ship. 



C. COLLINGWOOD. 

 14, Gloucester Place, Greenwich, 

 October 1>, 1867. 



