EGGS OF VAEIOUS KINDS AS FOOD. 203 



agreeable to the taste ; but the albuminous portion, or 

 white as it is commonly termed, does not acquire firmness 

 by boiling. 



The number of eggs which the female of the green 

 turtle deposits every spring in the sand, is from 200 to 

 300, but scarcely does a thirtieth of that number of 

 young turtles (supposing every egg to be hatched) reach 

 the sea, or live for a week after gaining it. Turtles' eggs, 

 are held in great esteem wherever they are found, as 

 well by Europeans as others ; they have a very soft shell, 

 and are about the size of a pigeon's egg. The mother 

 turtles lay thrice a year, at intervals of two or three 

 weeks, depositing in one night as many as a hundred at 

 a time. An experienced eye and hand are required to 

 detect the eggs, as they are always ingeniously covered 

 up with sand; but when they are properly sought for 

 very few escape. 



Among the Florida Keys and in other places with the 

 necessary sandy beaches and grassy foreshores, which the 

 turtle selects for depositing her eggs, the fishermen are 

 so expert that they can not only discern the track of a 

 turtle from the sea to the higher sands where the nest is 

 usually found — if the term "nest" be allowable — but 

 they can tell whether or not eggs have been deposited ; 

 for sometimes the burdened animal is disturbed before 

 she can deposit her eggs, in which event she turns, 

 forming a semi-circle round the place of intended deposit 

 which she is abandoning, and seeks the sea to look out 

 for some more eligible spot. And so keen are the eyes 

 of the fishermen, that they can always tell by this indica- 

 tion, which they technically express by the phrase that 

 the turtle has made "a half moon," that no eggs have 

 been there deposited. In such case they never search for 

 eggs on the spot, for they know it would be fruitless. 

 When, however, there are indications seen of a genuine 

 deposit, the ramrod of a musket, or some other sharp 

 pointed instrument, is thrust into the sand, drawn out, and 

 the point examined, when they can decide by well-known 

 appearances whethor there are eggs in that place. A 



