THE SAVAGE WORLD. 
221 
When the shell is taken from the animal it is marketable at about five dollars 
per pound, and since the shell of a full grown turtle of this species will 
weigh about eight pounds, and the animal is easily taken, the industry must 
be a very profitable one. The treatment to which the shell is subjected before 
conversion into articles of commerce is to first boil and then steam it, by which 
the shell becomes soft, after which it is put into a press and under heavy 
pressure is compressed into a solid flat block. In this condition it is again 
softened and cut into thin layers, which may be again united, in any thickness 
desired, by compression, and moulded into any shape that is wished. 
The shape of the hawk's bill turtle somewhat resembles a heart, and instead 
of being ridged as in other species, it is flat. The edges are serrated, with 
points directed towards the tail. In color it is a pale yellow marbled with 
brown on top, the plastron being of a very pale yellow hue. Like all other 
turtles, this species deposits its eggs in the sand, which are hatched by the 
sun. Usually the place of deposit is some distance from the shore, and as the 
young have 
no protection 
of shell, their 
bodies being 
yetsoft, a 
great maj or- 
ity of those 
hatched out 
are devoured 
by birds while 
trying to 
make their 
way to the 
water. But 
for this fact their multiplication is so rapid that they would soon fill the sea. 
The eggs are considered a delicacy, but the flesh of the East Indies species 
is unpalatable, though those taken about the West Indies are highly regarded 
for food. 
The Green Turtle (Chelonia my das) ranks next in importance to the 
hawk’s bill and from a gastronomic view it is more valuable. It is found in 
almost incredible numbers, notwithstanding the great number taken every year 
for the market, in all the tropical seas, but its most popular haunts are about 
the Antilles. The name green turtle has been given because of the marine 
hue of its shell which, like the hawk’s bill species, is heart-shaped, and though 
rising sharply to a ridge in the centre, the plates are smooth but not valuable. 
It grows to an enormous size, some specimens being as much as six feet long 
by four broad and weighing eight hundred pounds. The usual size, however, 
is from two hundred to three hundred pounds. Their flesh is so highly prized 
in all civilized countries, and especially in America and England, that ships 
with large crews are regularly engaged in the capture and transportation of 
the live turtles to leading markets on the coast, from which they are shipped 
to all the interior cities, and green turtle soup and steak have therefore become 
common dishes. 
Ascension Island, in the South Atlantic, midway between Brazil and Africa, 
