SPEARING TURTLES. 223 



a turtle basking on the water, until he gets within a distance of 

 ten or twelve yards, when he throws the spear so as to hit the 

 animal about the place which an entomologist would choose, 

 were it a large insect, for pinning to a piece of cork. As soon 

 as the turtle is struck, the wooden handle separates from the 

 peg, in consequence of the looseness of its attachment. The 

 smart of the wound urges on the animal as if distracted, and it 

 appears that the longer the peg remains in its shell, the more 

 firmly fastened it is, so great a pressure is exercised upon it 

 by the shell of the turtle, which being suffered to run like a 

 whale, soon becomes fatigued, and is secured by hauling in the 

 line with great care. In this manner, as the pilot informed me 

 eight hundred green turtles were caught by one man in twelve 

 months. 



" Each turtle has its ' crawl,' which is a square wooden build- 

 ing or pen, formed of logs, which are so far separated as to allow 

 the tide to pass freely through, and stand erect in the mud. 

 The turtles are placed in this enclosure, fed, and kept there till 

 sold. There is, however, a circumstance relating to their habits 

 which I cannot omit, although I have it not from my own ocular 

 evidence, but from report. When I was in Florida several of 

 the turtlers assured me, that any turtle taken from the deposit- 

 ing ground, and carried on the deck of a vessel several hundred 

 miles, would, if then let loose, certainly be met with at the same 

 spot, either immediately after, or in the following breeding 

 season. Should this prove true, and it certainly may, how 

 much will be enhanced the belief of the student in the uni- 

 formity and solidity of nature's arrangements, when he finds 

 that the turtle, like a migratory bird, returns to the same 

 locality, with perhaps a delight similar to that experienced 

 by the traveller who, after visiting different countries, once 

 more returns to the bosom of his cherished family." 



