288 ASTOLA, A SUMMER CRUISE 



It was too late when we arrived on the evening of the 28th 

 for ornithological work, so we dined punctually at 7 p.m. and 

 went on shore afterwards to turn turtle. It was a bright 

 moonlight night, and the party consisted of Captain Stifle, 

 Captain Bishop, and myself. As the gig approached the shore, 

 we saw several huge turtles out on the sand, and we had not 

 gone more than about 10 yards after landing when we dis- 

 covered an enormous turtle close to the edge of the water. We 

 rushed at him and seized him by the side and flippers, and 

 tried our best to turn him over, but all to no purpose. He was 

 too strong, and gradually forced us into the water, until we 

 were knee-deep, when we thought it time to give up the 

 attempt, so we let go, and off splashed the turtle in triumph. 

 Soon afterwards we " pugged" another one up the beach and 

 found Mm (or rather lier, as it proved to be a female full of eggs) 

 comfortably seated in a large hole in the sand which she had 

 scratched out to lay in. We tied ropes to her flippers and got 

 half a dozen of the sailors to drag her out of the hole ; and then, 

 fastening her with the ropes to a couple of oars, we carried 

 her to the gig and deposited her in the bottom of the boat. 



We then observed another one lying a few yards out iu the 

 water further down the beach ; and the sailors, availing them- 

 selves of a moment when a receding wave left her stranded, 

 rushed up, passed a rope under her, and secured it to her nippers. 

 Then commenced a most amusing u tug-of-war," the sailors, 

 six in number, pulling with the usual noisy u halice, chalice," 

 chorus on one side, -against the sturd}' old turtle on the other. 

 The turtle's side at last began to give, and the sailors to cheer 

 at the prospect of turtle soup for rations the following day, 

 when suddenly the rope broke, aud off went the turtle, leaving 

 all of the sailors prostrate on the beach amidst a roar of 

 laughter, as may be imagined, from the lookers-on. There 

 were several other turtles along the edge of the water ; but, as it 

 was getting late, and we had a long day on the morrow in pros- 

 pect, we gave up the sport (?) and returned to the ship to turn 

 in for the night. Later in the evening the sailors captured 

 another turtle and brought it on board. I do not know the 

 species to which these turtles belong, but they are of enormous 

 size, one of those we caught weighing 344Ibs.* 



The following morning we rose at 4, a.m., reaching the shore 

 just as it was beginning to get light. The cries of Larus 

 hemprichii and Sterna bergii were almost deafening as we 

 ascended the steep cliff side leading to the summit of the island, 

 and with the exception of one or two Crested Larks ( Galerida 



* Probably CheJonia virgata, which I have seen from Astola, and which sometimes 

 grows to an enormous size. — A. 0. II. 



