REPTILES, SNAKES AND AMPHIBIANS EATEN AS FOOD. 227 



good business in a preparation ■worthy of the gastronomic 

 patronage of an aldermanic banquet, so rich is it in green 

 fat and calipee, calipash, and those delicate gelatinous 

 morsels appertaining to the fins, A steady supply of 

 live turtle is obtained monthly through the West India 

 and Pacific steamers from Colon, besides those brought 

 from the Caymanas. 10,805 pounds of prepared turtle, 

 valued at £660, was shipped from Jamaica in 1880. 



Although all the varieties of the edible turtle are 

 palatable, yet they are distinguished by the localities 

 from whence they are obtained, and some are preferred 

 to others. Those of the Bay of Honduras are most 

 esteemed in England, Of the Cape Verde Islands, those 

 of St. Vincent are considered the best. Dampier tells 

 us that they are not so large as those of the American 

 islands. The flesh is white, and intermixed with the 

 green fat, which is firm and of good flavour. 



Jamaica is the principal mart in the West Indies to 

 which the turtle are brought from the coasts of the Gulf 

 of Mexico, from Trinidad to Vera Cruz, principally from 

 Honduras and the Tortugas. From Jamaica they are 

 sent to England and the United States. 



The island of Ascension ships about 3,000 turtle 

 yearly, some weighing from 400 to 800 lbs, 



Lemaire states that, at Cape Blanc, the turtles are of 

 such a size that some with the bones removed yielded 

 a barrel of flesh without the head, throat, tail, fins, 

 tripe, and eggs, and would furnish a good meal to 

 thirty men. (Firmin, " Voyage in Equinoctial Holland," 

 p. 80:) But it is not these large turtles that are most 

 esteemed ; those of 10 lbs. or 25 lbs. weight are the best 

 flavoured. 



At Martinique the flesh of the turtle is cooked in 

 various ways, and with different sauces. It is made into 

 soup, roasted on a spit, stewed, fricasseed, in pates, etc. 

 It may be said of the turtle as of the pig, that every 

 part of it is good, from the head to the foot. 



Here is a receipt, according to M. Chevet, senior, for 

 making turtle soup in the French style, given in the 



Q2 



