REPTILIA — CROCODILE. 691 



But of all animals of the tortoise kind, the green turtle^ is the most noted 

 and the most valuable, from the delicacy of its flesh, and its nutritive quali- 

 ties, together with the property of being easily digested. It is generally 

 found about two hundred pounds in weight ; though some are five hundred, 

 and others not above fifty. Dampier mentions one so large that a boy of 

 ten years of age, the son of Captain Rock, went from the shore in the shell 

 of it, as a boat, to his father's ship. 



This animal seldom comes from the r.ea but to deposit its eggs. Its chief 

 food consists of the mangrove, the blackwood tree, and other marine plants. 

 When the weather is fair, the turtles are sometimes seen feeding in great 

 numbers, like flocks of sheep, several fathoms deep upon the verdant carpet 

 below. They frequent the creeks and shallows, where they are usually 

 taken, but they are extremely shy of boats and men, and swim remarka- 

 bly fast. 



ORDER II. — S AURI A. 



Reptiles of this order have the body elongated, covered with scales, 

 generally with four feet ; toes with claws, or at least, in part ; tail more or 

 less long; mouth armed with teeth. 



THE CROCODILE. 2 



This animal grows to a great length, being sometimes found thirty feet 

 long from the tip of the snout to the end of the tail ; its most usual length, 

 however, is eighteen. One which was dissected by the Jesuits at Siam, was 

 eighteen feet and a half, French measure, in length ; of which the tail was 

 no less than five feet and a half, and the head and neck above two feet and 

 a half. It was four feet, nine inches in circumference, where thickest. The 

 fore legs had the same parts and conformation as the arms of a man both 

 within and without. The hands, if they may be so called, had five fingers ; 

 the two last of which had no nails, and were of a conical figure. The 

 hinder legs, including the thigh and paw, were two feet two inches long; 

 the paws, from the joint to the extremity of the longest claws, were about 

 nine inches; they were divided into four toes, of which three were armed 

 with large claws, the longest of which was an inch and a half; these toes 

 were united by a membrane, like those of a duck, but much thicker. The 

 head was long, and had a little rising at the top; but the rest Avas flat, and 



1 Chelonia mi/das, Cuv. 



2 The genus Crocodilus has the muzzle oblon? and depressed ; teeth unequal ; legs 

 dentated,"and feet palmated, the fourth tooth m the lower jaw, on each side, lying along a 

 groove in the upper. 



