64 CAPTURE OF A RARE TURTLE. 



In colour the upper surface was black, mottled with pinky 

 white, while the lower parts were principally yellowish, scantily 

 blotched with dark brown. 



The carapace and plastron presented a mosaic-like appear 

 ance ; the remaining parts were covered with smooth skin, 

 that of the head being entirely free from shields of any nature 

 as is sometimes reported. 



The contents of the stomach consisted mainly of small 

 fishes, prawns and other crustaceans, mixed with a lesser 

 amount of different vegetable substances. 



So little is this turtle known locally that it was some time 

 before I could obtain a name for it, but at length the word 

 11 kambau " was given me with the additional information that 

 the term also applied to anything slow or sleepy, such as a 

 prau in a calm, or light head-wind. 



Various circumstances, besides its already somewhat 

 putrid .state, prevented me from preserving this valuable 

 specimen in its entirety, but early on the following morning 

 I obtained a number of prisoners from the gaol and with their 

 help got out the skeleton. The flesh, though said to be of a 

 rank and unpleasant flavour, was eagerly begged for by 

 numerous Chinese as soon as stripped from the carcase. The 

 novel appearance and huge size of the reptile were causes of 

 much attraction, and all the afternoon during which it was 

 lying on the sea-front, it was a centre for crowds of interested 

 people. 



Though the species is widely distributed through tropical 

 seas (and is occasionally noted outside such areas) I know of 

 only one other example captured in our locality, and this — a 

 much smaller specimen — was forwarded to the Raffles Museum, 

 where it is now exhibited, by Mr. A. M. Skinner who obtained 

 it. at Tanjong Katong, Singapore, in 1884. The Johore speci- 

 men may therefore take rank as the second recorded capture 

 in this part of the Malayan seas. 



A full account of the anatomy of the Leathery Turtle, 

 based on the investigation of a small Japanese specimen, 

 appeared in a recent number of the P. Z. S. (1905, Vol. I 

 Pt. II) but my photographs of this locally-obtained individual 



Jour. Straits Branch 



