ORDER CHELONIA. 89 



tunity of striking him, which is by piercing him with an iron 

 peg, which slips out of the socket, but is fastened with a 

 string to the pole. If he is spent and tired by being long 

 pursued, he tamely submits, when struck, to be taken into the 

 boat or hauled ashore. There are men, who, by diving, will 

 get on their backs, and by pressing down their hind parts, 

 and raising the fore part of them by force, bring them to the 

 top of the water, while another slips a noose about their necks." 



It is probable that many varieties of testudo mydas exist, 

 but they are far from being determined. 



The Imbricated turtle {T. Tmhricata) is so named from 

 the peculiar arrangement of the plates of the disk, as is men- 

 tioned in the text. The head is smaller in proportion than 

 in other turtles. The neck is longer ; and the narrow, sharp, 

 and curved form of the beak, has given rise to the name of 

 hawk''s-bill turtle, which is the vulgar appellation of this 

 reptile. Its fore legs are longer than those of others of the 

 tribe ; and it is said to be able, when laid on its back, to 

 recover its former position, which no other turtle can do. 



Its volume is less considerable than that of testudo mydas, 

 and its weight is said seldom to exceed two hundred pounds. 

 Its usual length seems to be about three feet ; but it has been 

 known to measure five, and weigh five or six hundred pounds. 

 Specimens of very great magnitude are reported to have been 

 taken in the Indian Ocean. 



This turtle is a native of the American and also of the 

 Asiatic seas, and has been occasionally found even in the 

 Mediterranean. It is common enough near the islands and 

 coasts of America, under the torrid zone, in the Atlantic. 

 It especially prefers the Alligator Islands, and those of the 

 Bay of Honduras, the coasts of Vera-Cruz, in the Gulf of 

 Mexico, the north of Jamaica, the coasts of Guinea, and the 

 Indian Ocean. 



The imbricated turtle feeds on the turtle-grass, the moss 



