EGGS OF VARIOUS KINDS AS FOOD. 20& 



lasting three weeks or a month. Owing to the large 

 destruction which takes place, and the fact that th& 

 turtles are more easily captured at breeding time than 

 at any other period, it is proposed in Barbados to estab- 

 lish a " close time " for turtles, and to foster the industry 

 which is thus threatened with extinction. Jamaica and 

 other colonies will do well to take the hint and preserve 

 a valuable industry which, if properly developed, would 

 form a source of great and increasing wealth. 



The only condition in which the egg of the turtle is 

 fit to be eaten is, when taken from the slain animal 

 before the formation of the glaze and the surrounding 

 parchment-like skin, which answers the purpose of a 

 shell. In this condition, the young egg consists entirely 

 of yolk, and hundreds, perhaps thousands, in all stages 

 of development, from the merest embryo upwards, may 

 be found in the same individual. These imperfectly 

 formed eggs are very often preserved by drying, and ar& 

 considered a great luxury. In parts of India turtles' 

 eggs are salted, by which means they keep fresh for 

 three tO' five years. The process is very simple, and 

 only requires a little knack in knowing when the egg is 

 sufficiently salted. The shell, instead of being hard, is 

 soft, and consequently when put together with others 

 appears crumpled in all shapes. The process of salting 

 is this ; the fresh egg is well shaken, and thus the yolk 

 is broken or addled, and the contents, i.e., the white and 

 the yolk, blend together. It is then rolled by the hand 

 on a board with salt till the whole shell shows a marked 

 difference in appearance. This is allowed to cool, and 

 is packed in fine salt. Eggs thus prepared are found to 

 be plump, and on opening them of a pale yellow ; from 

 the fact of the contents all being shaken and mixed, 

 they become of this uniform light colour, and not part 

 yellow and part white, as eggs ordinarily are. A fowl's 

 egg is equal to so many ounces of meat ; but the turtle's 

 egg is far more nutritious, and there are more of them. 



In the Eastern Archipelago and about the Straits 

 Settlements the eggs of the " pinnio," or sea-turtle, and 



