Ch. XXIV.] TURTLE. 427 



square, and three or four feet deep, and the sea is allowed to 

 wash into them through 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-lookiug 

 heads above the surface and snorting out a jet of water. 

 They seemed to crowd together in one comer, 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 reser- 

 voirs for a year or more after capture. They were very 

 variously marked, some with large black spots, others with 

 indistinct radiating streaks upon the plates, and several had 

 a large white patch in the middle of the carapace. One in 

 particular was conspicuous from its very peculiar form. In- 

 stead of being gently rounded as usual, the carapace was 

 high and terminated in a ridge, which, as it swam about, 

 was elevated fully six inches above the water — a conforma- 

 tion 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, numbers of beautifully coloured crabs 

 (Grapsi, n. s.) ran actively about; the pools abounded with 

 large purple-spined Echini, ensconced in round hollows, and 

 beautiful azure and banded rock fish ; but the only seaweed 

 I observed was the cosmopolitan peacock's-tail (Padina 



