236 
Hunting foe Turtle Eggs. 
first consignment of fresli oysters. Hardly had the remaining Indians 
noticed this than they all plunged into the water and followed suit. I 
verily believe their appetite was so keen that had the voluntary desertion 
from their ships been punishable by death, this would not have deterred 
them from swimming to the sandbanks that hid the tasty eggs. When l 
got acquainted with this celebrated dainty, I was able to appreciate their 
passion for it. What are our much vaunted plovers’ eggs as compared 
with a turtle's? Although this delicacy has already been so often 
described with the liveliest admiration by those who have enjoyed it, 
why should I not add mine to these innumerable testimonials? Making 
its way from SO to about 140 paces inland on these sandbanks, the turtle 
rakes a hole, deposits its eggs, covers them with sand and then returns to 
the water. The inexperienced European would exert himself for long 
in vainly searching for the eggs, while, in exploiting this treasure-trove 
for himself alone, he would gain but little without the assistance of the 
Indians : the trained son of the forest, however, is rarely deceived, and 
hardly ever removes the sand from a spot without immediately finding the 
eggs beneath. A slight wavy rise on the sandy flat betrays the situation 
of the nest, a sign that we did not learn to differentiate until it multi- 
plied itself so often in the course of the days that we recognised isolated 
sandbanks the whole surface of which had a wavy outline. The white 
of the egg which does not harden by boiling, but remains quite fluid, is 
allowed to run off, only the tasty and nourishing yolk being eaten, ltaw 
yolks mixed with sugar and a few drops of rum afforded us an excellent 
dessert that had a surprising resemblance to the finest Marzipan. 
Amongst the innumerable turtle which, during our river trip, were seen 
within the area of the sandbanks, I was able to distinguish but two 
species. The Indians called the larger one Casipan which is probably 
the Em i/s Amnzou ica of von Martins, and also seems to be the Testudo 
Arrua of von Humboldt. It rakes an often two-feet deep excavation in 
the sand wherein it lays from 100 to 120 round eggs supplied with a 
narcliment-like covering. A smaller kind, probably Emys Tracnjd of 
von Martins synonymous with von Humboldt’s Testudo Terekay , lays 
but 18 to 19 oval eggs in a hole at most a foot deep. In the Amazon 
stream, Martins gives the laying season for October and November ; in 
the Orinoco, according to Humboldt, it falls in March, whereas in the 
Essequibo, on the contrary, it commences witn January and lasts at 
most until the beginning of February. This difference in the laying 
season certainly appears to be intimately connected with the varying 
commencement of the rainy season within the limits of the three river- 
basins, and Nature has instilled into these creatures that wonderful 
instinct whereby they deposit their eggs during that favourable period 
when the sun, before the entrance of the heavy rainy season, can still 
complete their hatching. The size of the young turtle is the surest 
indication to the Indians for the early or still delayed commencement of 
the tropical winter : for when these, after crawling out, hasten to the 
water, one can reckon with certainty that the rainy season is at hand. 
On the Orinoco this commences in the middle of April, on the Amazon 
in February, and on the upper Essequibo usually at the end of April, 
