TURTLE GENERALLY i6l 



high-water, in country where the growth of grass is so 

 strong and dense as to form an almost impenetrable barrier 

 to those infantile turtle which have the fortune to get out 

 of the death-traps, and in obedience to instinct, endeavour 

 to reach the sea. Is it that Nature, " so careful of the type " 

 imposes Malthusian practices to avoid the danger of over- 

 crowding the " never-surfeited sea ? " Notwithstanding the 

 positive check upon increase, the young are produced in 

 myriads. 



" Sambo," a black boy, who had visited this isle, on his 

 return to shores where turtle are less numerous, sought to 

 impress his master with the substantial charms of the far- 

 away North. " When," he said, " you come close up, you 

 look out. Hello ! You think about stone. No stone ; 

 altogether turtle ! " 



There, to within a recent date, might be seen the bones 

 of fourteen great green turtle side by side in a row. At 

 first glance the scene seems a sanctified death-place for the 

 species, until you are informed that a visitor to the isle, 

 astonished at the number of turtle on the beach, and 

 eager to secure an abundance of fresh meat, turned over 

 fourteen, intending to call again for them. Circumstances 

 prevented him from re-visiting the place, and the turtle, 

 being unable to right themselves, perished. 



Personal observation and inquiries from many men 

 whose lives may be said to be spent among turtle on the 

 Barrier Reef convince me that blacks never venture to get 

 astride a turtle in the water. One more daring and agile 

 may seize a turtle, and by throwing his weight aft cause 

 the head to tilt out of the water. The turtle then strikes 

 out frantically with its flippers, but the boy so counter- 

 balances it that the head is kept above the surface con- 

 tinuously, until the turtle becoming exhausted is guided 

 into shallow water or alongside a boat,' where it is secured 

 with the help of others. Boys who accomplish this feat are 

 few and far between, though it is by no means uncommon 

 for a turtle to be seized while in the water and overturned, 

 in which position it is helpless. A turtle detected in shallow 



