36 
NATURE NOTES 
many trustworthy observers that in order to remove the shell 
of their victim the turtle-fishers have recourse to fire. Here, 
for example, is the account quoted by Darwin in his “ Natural- 
ist’s Voyage round the World ” : — 
“ We saw several turtle, and two boats were then employed 
in catching them. ... A man standing ready in the bow 
dashes through the water upon the turtle’s back ; then clinging 
with both hands by the shell of its neck, he is carried away till 
the animal becomes exhausted and is secured. Captain Moresby 
informs us that in the Chagos Archipelago, in this same ocean, 
the natives by a horrible process take the shell from the back 
of the living turtle. It is covered with burning charcoal, which 
causes the outer shell to curl upwards : it is then forced off with 
a knife, and before it becomes cold is flattened between boards.” 
The wretched animal is not killed, but it is allowed to crawl 
away or turned back into the sea to re-plate itself, to be put 
through the torture again as soon as the new growth of the 
shell-segments (thirteen in all) is mature. Boiling water is 
also used, but more generally the plates are detached by the 
application of fire. 
A writer in the Evening Post (New York), who visited the 
island El Roncador on a turtle-hunting expedition at the in- 
vitation of one who was engaged in the business, gives the 
following particulars of the cruelty as he saw it 
“ At night the fishers conceal themselves along the shore as 
well as possible, and when the turtles come up out of the water 
on the beach they rush forth and turn them over on their backs 
with iron hooks, leaving them secure in this position until 
morning. It is the method by which the scales are loosened 
which is the repulsive part of the business. The turtles are 
turned over again in their natural position and fastened firmly 
to the ground by means of pegs ; then a bunch of dried leaves 
or sea-grass is spread evenly over the back of the turtle and set 
afire. The heat is not great enough to injure the shell, merely 
causing it to separate at the joints. A large blade, very similar 
in shape to a chemist’s spatula, is then inserted horizontally 
betw’een the laminae, which are gently prised from the back. 
Great care must be taken not to injure the shell by too much 
heat, and yet it is not forced off until it is fully prepared for 
separation by a sufficient amount of warmth. The operation, 
as one may readily imagine, is the extreme of cruelty, and many 
turtles do not survive it. Most of them do live, however, and 
thrive, and in time grow a new covering, just as a man will 
grow a new finger nail in place of one he may lose.” 
That this horrible cruelty is practised extensively in both the 
southern and western hemispheres (and, indeed, wherever the 
hawksbill and logger-head turtles abound) would be almost 
incredible were it not thus attested. The West Indies and 
South America, Sydney, and Fiji contribute not a little towards 
supplying the market demands with this product ; but most of 
