h* *■*.: *acr: 
Wetmore—J ournal 
15 
Black spots on land presumed to be groups of turtles...I counted 80 at that 
point in a distance of 300 yards partly on shore and partly feeding in the water 
ranging in size frcm 15 inches to 4 feet long. At certain points 25 or 30 
hauled out to lie together close to one another or even with large ones partly 
covering small ones. 
May 18—The water runs out four or five feet deep for some distance off with coral 
heads in either sides of a little sandy entrance—little waves washed the fine 
sand along the beach. 
[Turtle taken the night before] This animal proved to be a female nearly ready 
to lay as she contained fifty eggs with the shell and a large number of others not 
yet covered by the membrane® We found them very good eating. This anim a l had 
the posterior margin of the shell smooth. The shell measured long by 
wide. I prepared the head as a specimen. 
Another killed by Captain Grant had dentations on the posterior margin of the 
J 
shell and was a male. 
Some of the turtles are more or less searred in the flippers probably by sharks. 
I saw one yesterday of over 200 pounds weights with the front flipper cut off 
raggedly and the end of the ulna projecting. 
The grass plot here contains about 3 acres and is arranged in a long semicircle 
along a ridge above the beach. With the grass are one or two other plants. 
This is the only vegetation found on the island. Apparently roots persisted 
here until the last of the rabbits died. The grass is extending slowly held down more 
or less by birds breeding on the tussocks. There are none of the s ma l l land 
shells ( Partula ) usually found on this vegetation on all these islands but Mr. 
Thaanum has discovered the dead shells in some abundance in humus held beneath large 
lumps of coral that have been cast high on the ridge and have been imposition 
for many years. 
V 
May !£--Temperature 7:00 a.m. 72°; noon 74°; 6 p.m. 70°. 
T. 
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