132 AUDUBON THE NATURALIST, 
among the mangroves. Skimming the surface 
of the waters, glistening in the moonlight, the 
broad forms of the turtles are then seen, their 
anxiety and fear told by their hurried breathing, 
heard in the silence as they toil along. On 
nearing the shore the turtle raises her head, 
looks round and carefully examines the objects 
on it. Observing anything which seems to 
measure her proceedings, she utters a loud hiss- 
ing sound by which to intimidate her enemies, 
then instantly sets sail and wades to a consider- 
able distance. On the contrary, should she find 
everything quiet and propitious she crawls on 
the beach, and having found a convenient spot, 
again gazes cautiously round. With the utmost 
ingenuity she alternately raises and scatters the 
sand till a hole is dug to the depth of eighteen 
inches or, sometimes, two feet. After depositing 
her eggs and leaving the hatching of them to the 
heat of the sun, she launches once more into the 
deep. Those who search for the eggs are pro- 
vided with a light stiff cane or ram-rod with 
which they probe the sands along the shore, 
endeavouring to keep as near as possible to the 
tracks of the animal, which, however, it is not 
always easy to ascertain, often obliterated as 
they are by winds and heavy rains. The turtlers 
employ various methods of capture. Sometimes 
nets are placed across the entrance of streams, 
