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“ I now come to fpeak of a fpecies of Turtle or 
‘ Tortoife, peculiar to our fouthern rivers. We call 
‘ it the foft JJjelled Turtle ; becaiife, when alive, the 
‘ covering looks like leather, very fmooth and pli- 
‘ able, without any appearance of bone in it. It is 
‘ very fwift and fierce. They are not commonly 
got here in Charles- town, though by chance 
‘ this laft fummer, I had two fent me. One of 
‘ them I had preferved entire and fent to our friend 
‘ Mr. Ellis ; the other, lefs perfect, I have fent you. 
‘ This is a very curious animal, and I think, a non- 
' defcript, for there is none of Linnaeus’s fifteen 
' fpecies, that refemble it, except the firfi: ; and 
‘ that, he particularly mentions, is found in the 
‘ * Mediterranean j but this always inhabits frefli 
‘ waters, remote from the fea. The head and fnout 
‘ are particularly diftinguifhed from every other 
‘ Turtle; and what is more, 1 am told they ex- 
‘ ceed any turtle in the delicacy of their tafte and 
‘ flavour. I never eat any of them ; but have heard 
‘ many fpeak of them who were great epicures, and 
‘ they have affured me, that they were far preferable 
‘ to the green kind.” 
* There are two fpecies of Tortoifes in that fea, a coriace- 
ous one, and another refembling that of the Weft Indies, which 
is fcarce eatable. 7'he laft I procured from Leghorn, and at 
this time am doubtful whether it differs fpecifically from the 
Weft Indian Turtle. 
Frcf/j 
M m 2 
