OCEAN FISH AND OCEAN FISHING 85 



taken by a relative, whose business lay near the 

 Mansion House, to Birch's, in Cornhill, and being 

 shown a lot of turtles huddled together in dark 

 tanks in the cellars, and being told that only a 

 very small portion of their insides could be utilised 

 — hence the costliness of the soup. I also learnt 

 that calipash meant the flesh from the upper, and 

 calipee the meat from the lower shell of the edible 

 chelonian. Finally, in an upper room, I tasted 

 for the first time a plate of clear turtle, and with 

 it a glass of Madeira that en regie had, in the 

 cask, voyaged several times to India and back 

 before being pronounced fit for bottling. 



This constituted the extent of my knowledge 

 of turtles. Thus, when during the awful gale 

 described in a preceding chapter, a turtle was 

 espied to windward of us, I noticed how unlike the 

 Leadenhall Street turtles it appeared, and how 

 thoroughly comfortable and lively it seemed to be 

 in the turmoil of the great waters. 



Gradually it came alongside, all but within 

 striking distance, when, to our disgust, although 

 both harpoon and grains were ready, the furious 

 wind and sea drifted us to leeward out of reach of 

 the turtle. 



Later on, some hundreds of miles from the 

 island of Ascension, we managed to secure one. 



