! 



490 



in the Sun ; and they break a considerable num- 

 ber through carelessness during the gathering. 

 The number of eggs that are hatched before the 

 people can dig them up is so prodigious, that 

 near the encampment of Uruana I saw the 

 whole shore of the Oroonoko swarming with 

 little tortoises an inch in diameter, escaping 

 with difficulty from the pursuits of the Indian 

 children. If to these considerations be added, 

 that all the arraus do not assemble on the three 

 shores of the encampments ; and that there are 

 many that lay their eggs in solitude, and some 

 weeks later between the mouth of the Oroo- 

 noko and the confluence of the Apure ; we must 

 admit, that the number of turtles, which an- 

 nually deposite their eggs on the banks of the 

 Lower Oroonoko, is near a million. This num- 

 ber is very considerable for so large an animal, 



* The arraus, which lay their eggs before the beginning of 

 March ; for in the same species the more or less frequent 

 basking in the Sun, the food, and the peculiar organization 

 of each individual, occasion differences; come out of the 

 water with the terekays, which lay in January and February. 

 Father Gumilla believes them to be arraus, that were not able 

 to lay their eggs the preceding year ! All that Father Gili 

 relates of the terekay (vol. i, p, 96, 101, and 297) agrees en- 

 tirely with what I learned from the governor of the Otomaoks 

 of Uruana, who understood Spanish, and with whom I could 

 converse. It is difficult to find the eggs of the terekays, be* 

 cause these animals, far from collecting in thousands on the 

 same beach, deposit their eggs as they are scattered about. 



