TURTLE AND SUCKERS 245 



canoe careers about, accurately steered by the aft man, 

 in the erratic course of the wounded creature. As it tires, 

 the heavy haft of the harpoon secured by the half hitches 

 round the thin end being a considerable drag, the line 

 is shortened up, but too much trust is not placed on a 

 single line ; some time may pass before the canoe is brought 

 within striking distance again. When that moment arrives, 

 a second harpoon is sent into the flesh below the edge 

 of the carapace at the rear. Unable to break away, the 

 turtle is hauled close alongside the canoe, secured by the 

 flippers and towed ashore. I have known blacks, after 

 harpooning a turtle, to be towed 6 miles out to sea before 

 it came their turn to do the towing. 



How they accomplish the feat of securing a turtle that 

 may weigh a couple of hundredweight from a frail bark 

 canoe, in which a white man can scarcely sit and preserve 

 his balance, is astonishing. In a lively sea the blacks sit 

 back, tilting up the stem to meet the coming wave, and 

 then put their weight forward to ease it down, paddling, 

 manoeuvring with the line and baling all the time. The 

 mere paddling about in the canoe is a feat beyond the 

 dexterity of an ordinary man. 



It must not be concluded that these blacks invariably 

 have the co-operation of a sucker in securing turtle. Its 

 use is comparatively rare. Generally both turtle and 

 dugong are harpooned as they rise to the surface to 

 breathe, the sportsmen being very cunning and skilful. 

 They descry the turtle on the bottom, and softly follow 

 its movements as it feeds on the marine vegetation, and 

 then as it rises harpoon it ; or they follow one that has 

 betrayed itself by rising, observation and experience en- 

 abling them to judge fairly accurately when and where 

 it is likely to rise again. But patience, solemn silence, 

 and the avoidance of anything like sudden movements, 

 are among the principal rules to be observed. 



In passing, on the point of the turtle endeavouring 

 to rid itself of the sucker, a European pearl-sheller told 

 me of a unique experience that befell him in Torres Straits. 



