IMBRICATED TURTLE. 93 



andria was taken by Julius Ciesar, the magazines 

 or warehouses were so full of this article, that he 

 proposed to have made it the principal ornament 

 of his triumph, as he did ivory afterwards, when 

 triumphing for having happily finished the Afri- 

 can war. This too, in more modern times, was a 

 great article in the trade to China, and I have al- 

 ways been exceedingly surprised, since near the 

 whole of the Arabian gulf is comprehended in the 

 charter of the East- India Company, that they do 

 not make an experiment of fishing both pearls and 

 tortoises ; the former of Avhich, so long abandoned, 

 must now be in great plenty and excellence, and 

 a few fishers put on board each ship trading to 

 Jidda, might surely find very lucrative employ- 

 ment with a long-boat or pinnace, at the time 

 the vessels were selling their cargo in the port, 

 and while busied in this gainful occupation, 

 the coasts of the Red Sea might be fully ex- 

 plored." 



It may be doubted, however, whether the spe- 

 cies described and figured by Mr. Bruce, and said 

 to inhabit the Red Sea, be the real T. imbricata; 

 since it appears to differ in some respects from the 

 usual character of this animal, and particularly in 

 not having imbricated scales. 



The Testudo imbricata has been figured by 

 Seba, though not with that minute accuracy 

 which might have been Avished. Its shell has 

 been well represented by Grew in his MuscEum 

 Regalis Societatis ; but the most faithful, as well 

 as elegant representation which has yet appeared 



