THElIl ENORMOUS ABUNDANCE. 
189 
at a very earlv hour, and. who call them ‘ mad tortoises.’ 
Notwithstanding the rapidity of their movements, they are 
then easily caught with the hand. 
The three encampments formed by the Indians, m the 
places indicated above, begin about the end ot March or 
commencement of April. The gathering of the eggs is con- 
ducted in a. uniform manner, and with that regularity which 
characterises all monastic institutions. Eefore the arrival oi 
the missionaries on the hanks of the river, the Indians pro- 
fited much less from a production which nature lias sup- 
plied in such abundance. Every tribe searched the beach 
iu its own way; and an immense number of eggs were use- 
lessly broken, because they were not dug up with precau- 
tion, and more eggs were uncovered than could be carneu 
away. It was like a mine worked by unskilful hands. The 
Jesuits have t ho merit of having reduced this operation to 
regularity; and though the Erancisean monks, who suc- 
ceeded the Jesuits in the Missions oi the Orinoco, boast ot 
haring followed the example of their predecessors, they 
Unhappily do not effect all that prudence requires. The 
Jesuits did not suffer the whole beach to be searched ; they 
■eft a part untouched, from the fear of seeing the breed ot 
a rrau tortoises, if not destroyed, at least considerably dimi- 
nished. The whole beach is now dug up without reserve ; 
and accordingly it seems to be perceived that tbe gathering 
is less productive from year to year. 
When the camp is 'formed, the missionary ot Uruana 
names his lieutenant, or commissary, who divides the ground 
"here the eggs are found into different portions, according 
to the number of the Indian tribes who take part in the 
gathering They are all ‘ Indians of Missions,’ as naked 
and rude° as the ‘ Indians of the woods ;’ though they are 
galled redwoidos and neofitos, because they go to church at 
the sound of the bell, and have learned to kneel down 
during the consecration of the host. . 
The lieutenant (commissionado del Padre) begins lus 
operations by sounding. He examines by means ot a long 
"■ooden pole or a cane of bamboo, how far the stratum of 
e Sgs extends. This stratum, according to our measurements, 
extended to tbe distance of one hundred and twenty feet from 
the shore. Its average depth is three feet. The commis- 
