— 97 
“When they leave the eggs, they have only a soft shell and 
many perish from tho attacks of birds as they seek the sea, 
which instinct teaches them to do, as soon as hatched. There 
they meet a still more formidable 1'oe in the numerous sharks, 
hut with all this they propagate very rapidly. When a full 
grown turtle is attacked by a shark, it defends itself by turn- 
ing its flippers over the back, thus leaving nothing to lay 
hold of, but if speared and trying to escape, the flippers are 
instantly nipped off by the savage brute. 
“ After killing the turtles, the upper part of the carapace is 
taken off ; a hole is dug in the sand and a fire made in it, over 
which is placed the hollow carapace, and this is completly 
covered with wet sea weed ; when the steam soon separates 
the laminoe, or outer plates, the only part used for commerce. 
The turtles of the Atlantic feed in a great measure on the 
Zostera marina or Marine grass, but I saw none of it here, 
though so abundant in Mauritius. Their food appears to be 
principally a species of Sargassum which is in great abundance. 
“ After passing the Hospital I came to a fine bridge cons- 
tructed in Mr. Wards’ time. It spans a deep ravine and I 
passed to admire the rich vegetation clothing the banks of the 
crystal stream that was quietly finding its way to the sea. 
There were clumps of the feathery Bamboo over 40 feet in 
height, that at once stamp the character and give such ele- 
geance to Tropical scenery, they bent gracefully over the 
profusion of ferns, flowers, and grasses, whispering, who 
knows what of Nature’s secrets, in their soft creaking tones, 
to the lesser, yet still lovely denizens of the wilds at their 
feet. Beautiful green lizards were playing hide and seek on 
the Bamboos, or patiently waiting for the unwary insects that 
should venture within reach. I wished for my camera to be 
able to carry away some tangible souvenir of the scene, but. 
“ There were forms so various, that no powers of art, 
, The pencil or tho pen, may trace the scene ! ” 
•‘I met many Mozambique men aud women, sauntering along 
the road, most of them going to work in the town. One of 
them had a curious musical instrument on which he was 
