THE LHATHERY TURTLE. 501 
expressed his doubts as to whether the specimens collected in 
_ these various parts of the world really belonged to one species.* 
The same authority considered, from a critical examination of 
the localities where the species is found, and from its frequence 
in some parts of the Atlantic Ocean, whilst it is only met 
with accidentally in others, that “it is plain that the West 
Indies is its home, and that it is not indigenous to Europe, 
since in three centuries it has not been observed more than 
nine times in Europe, whereas it is seen at all seasons about 
the Bahamas.” t 
An interesting account is given by Major S. R. Tickell, 
which has been more than once reproduced, of a female captured 
on the coast of Tenasserim. ‘ She was captured Feb. lst, 1862, 
near the mouth of the Té River, on the sandy beach of which 
she had deposited about a hundred eggs, when she was surprised 
by a number of Burmese fishermen who had been lying in 
ambush near the spot (a favourite resort of the Common Turtle, 
Chelonia virgata), and, after a desperate struggle, was secured. 
Her entire length was six feet two and a half inches. 
“The strength, aided of course by the enormous weight. of 
the animal, was such that she dragged six men, endeavouring to 
stop her, down the slope of the beach, almost into the sea, when 
she was overpowered by increased numbers, lashed to some 
strong poles, and brought into the village by ten to twelve men 
at a time. 
**'The eggs were spherical, of 12 in. diameter, and were as 
palatable as those of the River Tortoise are nauseous. Besides 
those the animal had laid in the sand, there must have been up- 
wards of a thousand in her ovaria, in all stages of maturity. The 
flesh was dark and coarse, and very few of the crowds of Burmans 
assembled at Té to see the animal would eat any of it.’ t 
According to the late Prof. Duncan, they make a roaring noise 
under certain circumstances, and hence have to be included in 
the genus Sphargis.§ Aflalo, describing a pair of these Leathery 
* ‘Contr. Nat. Hist. U.S. Amer.’ vol. i. p. 372. 
+ Ibid. p. 874. 
; ‘Journ. As. Soc. Beng.’ 1862, p. 367. 
§ As the construction of this generic term implies, the species is now 
included in the genus Dermochelys. 
