FLORIDA AND THE WEST INDIES 169 



around the tables at Delmonico's and Sherry's, 

 most seductive of New York's restaurants. 



As a matter of truth, the laws passed for the 

 protection of Florida birds are regarded in that 

 country as a dead letter. I know one island, from 

 the rookeries of which spongers alone take hundreds 

 of birds, chiefly the ibis and Louisiana heron, every 

 breeding season, salting down the bodies for con- 

 sumption during the voyage. 



Loggerhead turtles are common in those waters, 

 one at least drifting past our boats during most 

 days in the Pass. No one molests them, and only 

 occasionally is one foul-hooked, when of course it 

 has to be taken to the beach. The turtles increase 

 in number as May advances, for the reason that 

 they come inshore during that month to deposit 

 their eggs on the sandy beaches during the first full 

 moon. The esfSfs are then left, such of them as are 

 not appropriated by men and bears, to hatch out in 

 the sun. The bear, of which I personally came 

 across no trace, wakes from its winter sleep — which 

 is so light in that genial climate that many authori- 

 ties altogether question the function of hibernation 

 — in May and comes forth, in poor coat, to feed on 

 turtle-eggs. The reason for so poor a coat is 

 obviously that the mild winter of Florida does not 

 make the protection of thick fur necessary. Yet 

 otherwise, so I was told, the bear is in good condi- 

 tion at the ending of the winter. What, however, 

 is most remarkable is that a very short course of 

 turtle-eggs makes the animal wretched, a result of 

 which I am quite unable to offer any explanation. 



The beaches of Gasparel and La Costa, on the 

 threshold of the Gulf, are most prolific in shells, 



