TURTLE. 



359 



path. I would not make any man unhappy, but the 

 fishermen say that the turtle which forms the de- 

 light of the gourmand is of the commonest kind, not 

 worth killing for the sake of the shell, and therefore 

 sent away alive. The kare he has never tasted. 

 It is killed for the sake of the shell, and eaten by the 

 luxurious fishermen on the spot. I immediately ne- 

 gotiated with the patron for the purchase of the shell. 

 The outer scales of the back, eight in number, are all 

 that is valuable. Their weight he estimated at four 

 pounds, and the price in Campeachy he said was 

 ten dollars a pound, but he was an honest fellow, 

 and let me have it at two pounds and a half, for 

 eight dollars a pound ; and I had the satisfaction of 

 learning afterward that I had not paid more than 

 twice as much as it was worth. 



In the afternoon we steered for the mainland, 

 passing the island of Kancune, a barren strip of 

 land, with sand hills and stone buildings visible upon 

 it. The whole of this coast is lined with reefs of 

 rocks, having narrow passages which enable a canoa 

 to enter and find shelter ; but it is dangerous to at- 

 tempt the passage at night. We had a good wind, 

 but as the next harbour was at some distance, the 

 patron came to anchor at about four o'clock under 

 the lee of the point of Nesuc. Immediately we 

 went ashore in search of water, but found only a 

 dirty pool, in which the water was so salt that we 

 could scarcely drink it, but still it was an agreeable 

 change from that we had on board. 



