TURTLE-FISHING. 



263 



on the temperature of its surface, and in determin- 

 ing the position of some remarkable islands. The 

 water of the gulf was so shallow, that the sloop 

 often struck; but the ground being soft and the 

 weather calm, no damage was sustained. At sunset 

 they anchored near the pass of Don Cristoval, which 

 was entirely deserted, although in the time of Co- 

 lumbus it was possessed by fishermen. The inhab- 

 itants of Cuba then employed a singular method for 

 procuring turtles ; they fastened a long cord to the 

 tail of a • species of echineis or stickmg-fish, which 

 has a flat disk, with a sucking apparatus on its head. 

 By means of this it stuck to the turtle, and was 

 pulled ashore, carrying the latter with it. The same 

 artifice is resorted to by the natives of certain parts 

 of the African coast. 



They were three days on their passage through 

 the archipelago of the Jardines and Jardinillos, 

 small islands and shoals partly covered with vegeta- 

 tion : remaining at anchor during the night, and in 

 the day visiting those which were of most easy ac- 

 cess. The rocks were found to be fragmentary, 

 consisting of pieces of coral, cemented by carbon- 

 ate of lime, and interspersed with quartzy sand. On 

 the Cayo Bonito, where they first landed, they ob- 

 served a layer of sand and broken shells five or six 

 inches thick, covering a formation of madrepore. It 

 was shaded by a forest of rhizophorae, intermixed 

 with euphorbiae, grasses, and other plants, together 

 with the magnificent Tournefortia gnaphalioides, with 

 silvery leaves and odoriferous flowers. The sailors 

 had been searching for langoustes ;* but not finding 

 any, avenged themselves on the young pelicans 

 perched on the trees. The old birds hovered around, 

 uttering hoarse and plaintive cries, and the young 

 defended themselves with vigour, although in vain ; 

 for the sailors, armed with sticks and cutlasses, 



* A kind of shrimp, or lobster. 



