Tertoiseshell and the. Turtle Fisheries. 365 



England as an article of food about the eighteenth century, 

 for a record in the ' Gentleman! s Magazine, under date 

 August 31, 1753, shows that it was then a rarity ; but they 

 did not understand how to dress it. It states : " A turtle, 

 weighing 350 lbs., was ate at' the King's Arms, Pall Mall ; 

 the mouth of an oven was taken down to admit the part- to 

 be baked." r .; ^ 



The locality for feasting upon the turtle now has been 

 transferred chiefly to the pxecihcts of the City ; and the 

 Ship and Turtle, Birch's in Cdrhhill, the. Guildhall, and 

 Mansion House, are the chief dep6ls of consurnption. Steam 

 communication too has greatly increased the imports of 

 this reptile. About 1 5,000 are now ihtrodiiced into our 

 ports, and from thence to our kitchens, every year. They 

 weigh from a quarter to three cwt., and may be valued in 

 the aggregate at about ;^8ooo, or more. Not that all these 

 shielded animals so arriving can be ,'called " lively turtle," 

 for the voyage has very often a damaging effect upon 

 them, and they have to be brought into flesh before; they 

 can be dished up for an aldermari's or nobleman's table. 



Dr. Browne, in his "History of Jamaica," speaking of 

 the turtle, .says "it is delicate, tender food while young, 

 but as it grows old it becomes more tough and gristly, 

 and is not. so agreeable, to the stomach in those- warm 

 countries j the juices, however, are generally reckoned 

 great restoratives, and often observed to heal and smooth 

 the skin in scorbutic and leproijs habits." 



The flesh of the green turtle is employed in the West 

 India islands generally, in all the maritime cities of the 

 United States, Bi-azil, and . Peru, in England, in Africa, the 

 Cape Verd inlands, and among the natives who inhabit 

 the. western coasts of Africa,. Guinea, and Congo, the 

 islands of Mauritius and Reunion in the Indian Ocean, 



