Louis Figuier

["The body," as described by Dr. Gray, "is covered with square imbedded plates, generally forming a dorsal and ventral shield united by their margins, leaving only the head, neck, limbs, and tail free, and (in some species, as the Box-Tortoises, Cinasternon, shut up by movable closely-fitting doors) only covered with a scaly skin; the upper shield formed of the ribs united together and adherent to the dorsal vertebrÆ by a toothed suture, and surrounded by a series of bones forming the edge of the shields; the lower shield, or sternum, formed of four pairs and a central anterior bone; the jaws toothless, covered with a horny bill, rarely hid by fleshy lips; eyelids distinct; drum of the ear visible; legs short and thick; tail conical." "The natural dwelling chamber of the Chelonia consists chiefly," says Professor Owen, "and in the marine species (Chelone) and Mud Turtles (Trionyx) solely, of the floor and the roof; side-walls of variable extent are added to the fresh-water species (Emydians) and Land Tortoises (Testudinians). The whole consists of 'osseous plates,' with superincumbent horny plates, or 'scutes,' except in the Soft or Mud Turtles (Trionyx and Sphargis), in both of which these are wanting."—("Circle of the Sciences.")

These animals, to which a portable stronghold is thus given in compensation for inferior powers of locomotion and defence, are recognisable at a glance from the singular armour with which Nature has provided them. A double shield envelopes all parts of their bodies, only permitting the head, neck, legs, and tail to pass through it: moreover, all these organs can be hidden within this double cuirass by means of a retractile power possessed by the animal. This double armour consists of a carapace, or back-piece, and plastron, or breast-plate, composed of a series of small bones or plates closely united together; the first resulting from the union of the sides and dorsal vertebrÆ, the plastron, or lower buckler, being only a highly-developed sternum. These organs are merely portions of the skeleton, which, in place of being lodged in the depths of the soft parts, has become the superficies, which is only covered by a thin, dry skin.

This numerous and highly-interesting order of Reptiles, called Chelonia, from ?e????, a Tortoise, are also called Testudinata, from testudo, the Latin name for a Tortoise, from the double shield in which the bodies of all, whether terrestrial, fresh-water, or marine Tortoises, are enclosed.

The skeleton of the Tortoise is, perhaps, the most extraordinary structure with which we are acquainted. This oddly-organised animal when first seen strikes the beholder with astonishment. The carapace and plastron, with their connecting plates, form a sort of protecting box, in which the animal lives, its head and tail excepted. In the land Turtles the head and feet, which are comparatively senseless, can be withdrawn within the protecting armour. The ribs and sternum are both placed quite on the exterior of the body, so as to form a broad dorsal shield on the upper surface, and an equally strong ventral plate; between these, the limbs and the head can be more or less completely retracted. Nevertheless, the modifications in the arrangement of the elements by which these changes are accomplished are of the simplest nature. In the common Tortoise, Emys EuropÆus, the vertebrÆ of the neck and tail being connected together in the ordinary manner, the neck and caudal region of the spine present their usual flexibility, but the dorsal vertebrÆ are strangely distorted, the upper arch being disproportionately developed, while the bodies remain almost in a rudimentary state; the spinous processes of these vertebrÆ are flattened and converted into broad osseous plates, which form a longitudinal series along the centre of the back, and connected together by means of sutures. The ribs are changed into broad flat bones firmly united by sutures to each other, and also to the lateral margins of the spinous processes of the vertebrÆ, so that they form together a single broad plate; the heads of the ribs are feebly developed, and the intervals between them and the bodies of the vertebrÆ filled up with ligament. The margin of the shield thus formed by the dorsal ribs is further enlarged by a third set of flat bones fixed by sutures around the whole circumference of the carapace.

The plastron, or ventral plate, is made up of nine pieces, of which eight are arranged in pairs; but the ninth, which is always placed between the four pieces composing the two anterior pairs, is single, and occupies the mesial line. The bones of the shoulder and hip are placed within the thorax, and articulated to the sides of the vertebral column.

Of this vertebral column in these extraordinary animals, Professor Owen remarks that the manifold modifications of the framework which render it a portable abode, appear to have been given as a compensation for inferior powers of locomotion, and the absence of offensive weapons. But with all its modifications, the same number of pieces are found in the bony skeleton as in other ordinary vertebratÆ, the form and volume of many of these pieces being alone changed.

The skin which covers the body of these animals sometimes preserves its softness, being altogether devoid of scales; but in nearly all the species it is covered with horny scales of great consistency. Upon the plastron and carapace these scales form large plates, the arrangements and appearances of which vary in different species, some of them being often remarkably beautiful. The material which bears the name of Tortoise-shell forms an important article of commerce.

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Aristotle mentions three groups of Tortoises; namely, ?e??? ?e?sa?a, or Land Tortoises; ?a?att?a, or Sea Tortoises; and ??h??, or Fresh-water Tortoises. Cuvier divides them into five sub-genera:—1, Land Tortoises, Testudo (Brogniart); 2, Fresh-water Tortoises, Emydes (Brogniart); 3, Marine Tortoises, Chelque (Cuvier); 4, Chelydes, Testudo fimbriata; 5, Soft Tortoises, Trionyx (Geoffrey)—in which he is followed by Dr. Gray in the British Museum Catalogue, who makes them the third order of Reptiles in his arrangement as follows:—

I. TestudinidÆ.
Testudo, Chersina, Kinixys, Pyxis.
II. EmydidÆ.
Geoemyda, Emys, Cyclemys, Malaclemys, Cistudo, Kinosternon, Chelydra, Platysternum.
III. ChelydidÆ.
Sternotherus, Pelomedusa, Hydraspis, Chelymys, Phrynops, Chelodina, Hydromedusa, Chelys, Peltocephalus, Padocnemis.
IV. TrionycidÆ.
Trionyx, Emyda.
V. CheloniadÆ.
Sphargis, Chelonia, Caretta, Casuana.

In the valuable "ErpÉtologie" of Messrs. DumÉril and Bibron, the Chelonians are divided into—1, Land Tortoises, Chersites; 2, Marsh Tortoises, Elodites; 3, River Tortoises, Potamites; 4, Sea Tortoises, or Turtles, Thalassites.

This arrangement being the most simple, is adopted as best adapted to our purpose.]

Land Tortoises.

Terrestrial Tortoises are distinguished by their short, oval, and convex bodies, covered by carapace and plastron; four feet, and the absence of teeth; short, stumpy, unshapely legs; nearly equal toes, armed with claws, united by a thick skin, so as to form a clumsy foot, the periphery of which forms a sort of hoof, which seems adapted for the land.

In this group the carapace is very convex, its height sometimes exceeding its breadth; it forms a solid, generally an immovable, arch, under which the animal can completely conceal its feet and tail. This buckler is covered with large horny plates or scales.

Land Tortoises have been known from the earliest times, representations of them being found on numerous monuments of antiquity, the product of ancient art. Moreover, ancient writers tell us that the carapace of the Tortoise contributed its substance to the formation of the first lyre; it was consequently sacred to Mercury as the deity of music and inventor of that instrument.

The Land Tortoises are divided into four genera, which DumÉril and Bibron again divide into three sub-genera and thirty species. The most interesting species, however, to which we must limit our remarks are—the Marginate Tortoise, Testudo marginato; the Moorish Tortoise, Testudo Mauritianica; the Greek Tortoise, Testudo GrÆca; and the Elephantine Tortoise, Testudo elephantina.

Fig. 35.—Testudo Mauritianica.

The Margined Tortoise, which was long confounded with the Greek Tortoise, is found abundantly throughout the Morea, in Egypt, and upon the Barbary coasts. The carapace is oval in form, oblong, convex, and much dilated at the posterior margin, and nearly horizontal; the plastron is movable behind, which is its chief sub-generic character; the tail is thick, conical, and scarcely issues from the carapace. The plates of the disc are of a blackish-brown, presenting towards the centre certain spots of a beautiful yellow colour; the marginal plates are habitually ornamented with two triangular spots, one yellow, the other black. The underpart of the body is of a dirty yellow, with one large triangular black spot upon six or eight of the sternal scales. This Tortoise is of medium size.

The Moorish Tortoise, Testudo Mauritianica, is commonly found in the neighbourhood of Algiers, and along the coast of Morocco, whence those are sent which are sold in the Paris markets. When shooting in Morocco, scarcely a day would pass without the setters or pointers finding numbers of them, to which they would stand with as much staunchness as game. The scent they emit is so powerful as to be easily detected by a human being. The carapace of this species is also convex; the sternum is also movable behind: it is generally olive-coloured. The plates of the disc are marked with blackish spots, and sometimes with a buckle of the same colour, which covers their circumference on the front and sides. The plates of the plastron, the ground of which is olive, have each a large black spot in the centre. This species is rather smaller than the Marginate Tortoise.

The Greek Tortoise, Testudo GrÆca, is of small dimensions, scarcely exceeding twelve inches in length. They inhabit Greece, Italy, some of the Mediterranean isles, and the south of France, from whence it seems to have been transplanted into Italy. They feed upon herbs, roots, slugs, and lob-worms. Like all their race, they sleep during the winter, passing this season in holes which they excavate in the soil sometimes more than thirty inches deep. As the month of May approaches they issue from their retreat, resorting to some sheltered sandy place, where they bask themselves in the sun's rays. Towards the month of June the females lay from twelve to fourteen white spherical eggs, as large as a small walnut; they dispose these eggs in a hole exposed to the sun; but covered over with earth. Thus the operation of hatching is performed. The carapace of this species is oval and very much arched; their marginal plates are twenty-five in number; the plastron, which is almost as long as the carapace, is separated into two great portions by a longitudinal line; the plates of the carapace are spotted with black and greenish yellow, forming a large marbled pattern; the centre of the disc is besides relieved by a small, irregular, blackish, central spot. These three species are held in high estimation on account of their flesh, which gives an agreeable taste to soup.

The Elephantine Tortoise, Testudo elephantina, the length of which is more than three feet, inhabits most of the islands situated in the Mozambique Channel—namely, between the eastern coast of Africa and the Isle of Madagascar. The Museum of Natural History at Paris had specimens of this Tortoise which lived more than twelve months, and which weighed about six hundred pounds. Their flesh is extremely delicate, and much sought after.

In some other Terrestrial Tortoises, from which the genus Pyxis has been formed, the anterior portion of the plastron is movable; and when the head and feet are drawn in, the animal can fasten itself against the sides of the carapace like a door in its case.

In some Terrestrial Tortoises, which have been formed into particular genera, the carapace is flexible, and can lower itself behind like the plastron; these are Kinixys. Lastly, there are others which, for legs, have only four unguiculated toes: such as the Homopodes.

Marsh Tortoises.

Marsh Tortoises, Elodites, occupy a place between Terrestrial Tortoises and those which are essentially aquatic. They have the carapace more or less depressed, oval, and broader behind; their feet have distinct flexible toes supplied with hooked claws, of which the phalanges are united at the base by means of an elastic skin, which enables them to separate one from the other, at the same time preserving their strength and assisting them to grasp a much larger surface. Thus they can walk upon the ground, swim on the surface of deep waters, and climb up the banks of lakes or other tranquil waters, which are their habitual dwelling-places.

These Tortoises are generally of small size; being carnivorous, they feed upon small living animals. As they exhale a nauseous odour they are not used as an article of food; and further, as their carapace is neither thick enough nor beautiful enough to be manufactured as tortoise-shell, they are consequently little sought after. There are a hundred species of Elodians, or Marsh Tortoises, known, which are spread over all parts of the globe, but principally in warm and temperate regions. Such are the Cistudo, Emydes, and Trionyx.

The Elodians have none of the sluggishness of the Land Tortoises; they swim with facility, and on land they walk with considerable rapidity. Their eggs are white, and nearly spherical, with a calcareous shell, and these are deposited in a hollow dug in the soil or sand, like the Land Tortoises, the place chosen being generally situated on the banks of some secluded stream; the number of eggs increasing as the animal approaches maturity.

The Elodians are divided into Cryptoderes and Pleuroderes: the former distinguished from the latter by the retractile power they possess of concealing their cylindrical neck, with its sheath of loose skin, under the middle of the carapace; the head, whose width is nearly equal to its height at the occiput; the eyes always lateral, and their orbit so large that the diameter of the cavity nearly equals a fourth of the whole cranium; and the jaws, which are strong, sometimes trenchant, in others are dentated on the edge. In the larger number of species the anterior extremity of the upper beak is notched with a strong tooth on each side, producing the appearance of a beak closely resembling that of birds of prey.

The Mud Tortoises, Cistudo, sometimes called the Yellow Tortoise (Fig. 36) are very abundant in Europe. They are found in Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and in the southern provinces of France; also in Hungary, Germany, and as far north as Prussia. They inhabit lakes, marshes, and ponds, at the bottom of which they bury themselves in the mud. Occasionally they come to the surface of the water, and remain there for hours. They live principally upon insects, mollusks, aquatic worms, and small fishes. Although the flesh of the Mud Tortoise is far from being palatable, it is nevertheless eaten in countries where they are common.

The Emydes are divided into four considerable groups, namely, the European group, of which Fig. 37, E. Caspica, is typical; the American group, containing twelve or fourteen species; the African Emys; and the Oriental group of twelve species.

The Pleuroderes have the neck retractile on one side of the carapace, without their having the power of drawing it between their fore feet, and under the buckler and plastron, like the Cryptoderes. Chelys matamata (Fig. 38) belongs to this division. This species lives in stagnant water, and is altogether remarkable for its singular appearance—for its depressed, wide, and triangular nostrils, prolonged into a proboscis; its wide gape, rounded jaws, and the cutaneous appendages to the chin. This is sometimes called the Bearded Tortoise.

Potamians, or River Tortoises.

The River Tortoises live constantly in the water, only coming to land occasionally; they swim with much ease below and on the surface. The carapace is very broad and flat; the toes united up to the claws by broad flexible membranes. These membranes change the feet into true paddles, which perform the office of oars. They seem to attain a considerable size, one kept by Pennant for three months weighing twenty pounds, its buckler not reckoned; the neck measuring twenty inches in length. The upper parts of their bodies vary in tint from brown to grey, with irregularly marbled, dotted, or ocellated spots; the underpart is a pale white, rosy, or purple tint. Sinuous brown, black, or yellow lines are symmetrically disposed on the right and left, principally on the neck and on the limbs.

During the night, when they think themselves safe, the River Tortoises seek repose on the rocks and islets, or on timber floating in the rivers, from which they plunge into the water on the slightest noise. These Tortoises, which accommodate themselves so perfectly to the medium that they inhabit, are continually at war with the fishes, reptiles, mollusks, and other denizens of the rivers. They are voracious and active, and are relentless enemies to the young of fishes, and especially of Crocodiles.

The carapace of the River Tortoise, Trionyx, is soft, covered with a flexible cartilaginous skin resting on a greatly-depressed osseous disk; its upper surface is covered with shrivelled sinuosities. As they are destitute of scales these Tortoises are said to be soft; their flesh is much esteemed, and they are angled for with hook and line, baited with small fishes or living worms and mollusks, or with dead bait, to which the sportsman gives motion and apparent life, for they are said never to approach dead prey. When they seize their victim, or defend themselves, they dart out their head and long neck with great rapidity, biting sharply with their trenchant beak, and holding on till they have bitten out the piece. From this peculiarity they are commonly known in the United States as the Snapping Turtle. Persons wading have been known to lose toes from their bite.

M. Lesueur states that towards the beginning of May the females of Gymnopus spinifera, belonging to this division, seek out sunny sandy spots on the river's bank for the deposit of their eggs; they are not deterred from choosing steeps of ten or fifteen feet for this purpose. Their eggs are spherical, and more fragile than those of the Marsh Tortoise. They deposit from fifty to sixty at a time. None of this group are found in Europe. The fresh-water lakes and rivers of the warmer regions, such as the Nile and the Niger, in Africa, the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Amazon rivers, in America, the Euphrates and the Ganges, in Asia, are its habitats. Among other remarkable species in the group we here represent Trionyx Ægyptiacus, Fig. 39, supposed to be the ??? of Aristotle.

No modern naturalist has done more to illustrate the habits of the Fresh-water Turtle than Mr. Bates, in his highly interesting work, "The Naturalist on the Amazon." "The great Fresh-water Turtle (probably Platemys Æfipes) of the Amazon or Solimoens grows on the upper river," he says, "to an immense size, a full-grown one measuring nearly three feet in length, by two in breadth, and is a load for the strongest Indian. Every house (in Ega) has a little pond called a corral, or pen in the back-yard, to hold a stock of these animals through the season of dearth—the wet months. Those who have a number of Indians in their employ send them out for weeks, when the waters are low, to collect a stock, and those who have not purchase their supply—this is attended with some difficulty however, as they are rarely offered for sale. The price of Turtles, like that of other articles of food, has risen greatly since the introduction of steam-vessels. Thus, when I arrived, in 1850, a middle-sized one could be bought for ninepence, but when I left, in 1859, they were with difficulty obtained for eight or nine shillings each. The abundance of Turtles varies with the amount of diurnal subsidence of the waters. When the river sinks less than the average, they are scarce; but when high waters have prevailed, they can be caught in abundance, their haunts being less restricted, and appropriate breeding-places more numerous.

"The flesh is very tender, palatable, and wholesome; but it is very cloying, and every one ends sooner or later by becoming thoroughly surfeited. I became so sick of Turtle in the course of two years that I could not bear the smell of it, although nothing else was to be had; consequently I suffered from actual hunger."

One of the most amusing sketches in Mr. Bates' book is a journey he made on the Solimoens, during which he visited the praias, or sand-islands, the Turtle-pools in the forests, and the by-streams and lakes of the great river. His companion was Cardozo, who was a sort of official superintendent of the diggers for Turtles' eggs on the sand-banks of Shimuni, the island lying nearest to Ega. There are four or five of these Royal Praias, as they are called, in the district, each having its commandant, whose business is to see that every inhabitant has an equal chance in the egg-field.

"The pregnant Turtles descend from the interior pools of the main river in July and August, before the outlets dry up, and seek their favourite sand-island in countless swarms; for it is only a few praias that are selected by them out of the great number existing. When hatched, the young animals remain in the pools throughout the dry season; for these breeding-places of the Turtle then lie from twenty to thirty feet above the level of the river, and are accessible only by cutting a path through the dense forest." On the 26th of September Mr. Bates left Ega with his companion, who was about to visit the sentinels placed to mark when and where the Turtles laid their eggs. Their conveyance was a stoutly-built canoe, or igaretÉ, arranged for two paddlers, with an arched covering in the stern, under which three persons could sleep pretty comfortably. The swift current of the Solimoens carried them rapidly to the large wooded island of Baria, which divides the river into two broad channels. Shimuni lies in the middle of the north-easterly passage. They were quickly paddled across, reaching it an hour before sunset. The island is about three miles long and half a mile broad. The forest which covers it rises to an immense uniform height, presenting all round a compact and impervious front, the uniformity being interrupted here and there by a singular tree, called Mulatto wood, whose polished dark-green trunk is seen conspicuously through the mass of vegetation. The sand-bank lies at the upper end of the island, and extends several miles, presenting an irregular surface of ridges and hollows. At the further shore to the north-east, where no forest line shuts out the view, the white, rolling, sandy plain stretches away to the horizon; to the south-west a channel, about a mile in breadth, separates Baria from Shimuni.

Arrived at this island, Mr. Bates proceeds to describe with great minuteness the operations of the Turtles, as well as those of the sentinels placed to watch them.

"We found two sentinels," he says, "lodged in a corner of the praia, where it commences at the foot of the towering forest west of the island, having built themselves a little rancho with poles and palm-leaves. Great precautions are obliged to be taken to avoid disturbing the vigilant Turtles, which, previous to crawling ashore to lay, assemble in great shoals off the sand-bank. The men during this time take care not to show themselves, and they warn off any fisherman who attempts to pass near the place; for the passage of a boat, or the sight of a man, or a fire on the sand-bank, would prevent their laying their eggs that night, and if repeated, they would forsake the praia for some quieter place."

After a night spent under a temporary shed rapidly constructed for himself and companion, Mr. Bates rose from his hammock shivering with cold.

"Cardoza and the men were already watching the Turtles on a stage erected on a tall tree fifty feet high; from this watch-tower they are enabled to ascertain the place and date of successive deposits of eggs, and thus guide the commandant in fixing the time for his general invitation to the Ega people. The Turtles lay their eggs during the night, leaving the water in vast crowds when all around is quiet, when they crawl to the central and highest part of the praia. The hours between midnight and dawn are those when the Turtles excavate, with their broad, webbed paws, deep holes in the fine sand, the animal in each case making a pit about three feet deep; in this pit it lays its eggs, about a hundred and twenty in number, covering them over with sand; then a second deposit is placed on the top of the first, and so on until the pit is full." This goes on for about fourteen days. "When all have done, the area, or taboliero, over which they have been digging is only distinguished from the rest of the praia by signs of the sand having been a little disturbed.

"On rising I went to join my friends," he continues, "and few recollections of my Amazonian rambles are more vivid and agreeable than that of my walk over the white sea of sand on this cool morning. The sky was cloudless; the just-risen sun was hid behind the dense woods on Shimuni, but the long line of forest to the west on Baria, with its plumy decorations of palms, was lighted up with his yellow horizontal rays. A faint chorus of singing-birds reached the ears from across the water, and flocks of Gulls and Plovers were calling plaintively over the swelling banks of the praia. Tracks of stray Turtles were visible on the smooth white surface, two of which had been caught, for stragglers from the main body are a lawful prize.

"On arriving at the edge of the forest I mounted the sentinels' stage just in time to see the Turtles retreating to the water on the opposite side of the sand-bank. The sight was well worth the trouble of ascending. They were about a mile off, but the surface of the sand was blackened with the multitudes which were waddling towards the river; the margin of the praia was rather steep, and they all seemed to tumble head first down the declivity into the water."

On the 2nd of October the same party left Ega on a second excursion, the object of Cardoza being this time to search certain pools in the forest for young Turtles. The exact situation of these hidden sheets of water are known to few. The morning was cloudy and cool, and a fresh wind blew down the river; they had to struggle, therefore, against wind and current. The boat was tossed about and shipped a good deal of water. Their destination was a point of land twenty miles below Shimuni. The coast-line was nearly straight for many miles, and the bank averaged about thirty feet above the then level of the river; at the top rose an unbroken hedge of forest. No one could have divined that pools of water existed on that elevated land.

A path was cut through the forest by our party with their hunting-knives to the pool, half a mile distant; short poles were cut and laid across the path, over which three light canoes were rolled, after being dragged up the bank. A large net, seventy yards in length, was then disembarked and carried to the place. Netting, however, the older Indians considered unsportsmanlike; and, on reaching the pool, they commenced shooting the Turtles with bows and arrows from light stages erected on the shores.

"The pool covered an area of about four acres, and was closely hemmed in by the forest, which, in picturesque variety and grouping, often exceeded almost anything I had seen. The margins for some distance were swampy, and covered with large tufts of fine grass called matupÁ. These tufts were in many places overrun with ferns, and exterior to them was a crowded row of arborescent shrubs growing to a height of fifteen or twenty feet, forming a green palisade. Around the whole stood the taller forest trees—palmate-leaved CecropiÆ; slender Assai palms thirty feet high, with their thin feathery heads crowning their gently-curving, smooth stems; and, as a background to these airy forms, lay the voluminous masses of ordinary forest trees, with garlands, festoons, and streamers of leafy parasites hanging from their branches."

The pool which was hemmed in by this gorgeous scenery was nowhere more than five feet deep, and of that one foot was a fine soft mud. Cardoza and the author spent an hour paddling about admiring the skill displayed by the Indians in shooting Turtles. They did not wait for the animals to come to the surface to breathe, but watched for the slightest movements in the water which revealed their presence underneath; that instant an arrow flew from the bow of the nearest man, which never failed to pierce the shell of the submerged animal, and by mid-day about a score of full-grown Turtles had been shot. The net was now spread at one extremity of the oval-shaped pool, its side resting on the bottom, while the floats buoyed the other side up on the surface, the cords being held by two Indians. The rest of the party now spread themselves round the pool, beating the water with long poles, in order to drive the Turtles towards the centre. When they neared the net, the men moved more quickly, beating and shouting with great vigour. The ends of the net were now seized with vigorous hands, and dragged suddenly forward, bringing them at the same time together, so as to enclose all within a circle. Every man then leapt into the enclosure, the boats were brought up, and the captured Turtles were thrown in. In this manner about eighty were secured in twenty minutes.

Among these were several male Turtles, or capetaris, as they are called by the natives. They are much less numerous than the females, much smaller, and more circular in shape; their flesh is considered unwholesome.

On the 17th of October, the day announced for the taboliero, or egg-digging, Mr. Bates made a last excursion in Senhor Cardoza's company. Egg-collecting occupied four days. On the morning of the 17th about four hundred persons were assembled on the sand-bank; each family had erected a rude temporary shed of poles and palm-leaves, to protect themselves from sun and rain. Large copper kettles to prepare the oil, and hundreds of red earthenware jars, were scattered about on the sands. The commandant commenced by taking down the names of all masters of households, with the number of persons each intended to employ in digging; he then exacted from each a fine equal to fourpence a head towards defraying the expense of the sentinels, when the whole were allowed to go to the taboliero. It was exhausted by the end of the second day, when each household had erected large mounds of eggs beside their temporary hut.

Thalassians, or Sea Tortoises.

CheloniadÆ, Gray; CarettoidÆ, Fitzing; Halychelones, Kelgen; OiocopodÆ, Wagler.

The Turtles or Sea Tortoises are distinguished from all others by a comparatively flat carapace, long members, the extremities of which terminate in broad paddles, the anterior much longer than the posterior ones; the toes, though formed of distinct pieces, can only act together, thus constituting true oars, admirably arranged for swimming. Their carapace, besides being flat, is indented and elongated in front, and contracted behind, being disposed in such a manner that the head and feet can be completely hidden.

Marine Tortoises are the largest of their species: they swim and dive with great facility, and can remain long under water. The external orifice of the nasal canal is furnished with a sort of valve, which the animal raises when it is in the air and closes when under water; but it rarely leaves its liquid element except in the breeding season, when nature prompts it to seek the shore to lay its eggs. Some of the species, however, seek the shore in the night, when they frequent the banks of desert and solitary isles, where they browse on marine plants. Although they walk with difficulty, and even with pain, in quiet seas they may be seen floating like a boat, in absolute immobility, and asleep on the surface of the water. With their horny jaws, which are hard and trenchant as the beak of a bird of prey, some of them feed upon sea-weed and algÆ, while others feed on living animals, such as crustaceans, zoophytes, and mollusks.

We have seen how regularly and systematically the Land Tortoises proceed in depositing their eggs—nor is less precaution taken by the Sea Tortoise. The females, accompanied by the males, traverse several hundreds of miles of sea in order to deposit their eggs in some favoured locality. Other females resort, year after year, almost to a day, to the sandy shore of some desert isle, where they drag themselves ashore during the night, sufficiently inland to be safe from the tide. In some such spot, using their hind feet by way of a shovel, they excavate holes about thirty inches deep. Here they lay frequently a hundred eggs, covering them up afterwards with the fine sand, levelling the surface, and then returning to sea, leaving the eggs to be hatched by the solar rays. The eggs are round, slightly depressed at both ends, and furnished with a coriaceous shell. From the high temperature communicated to the sand-bank, they are hatched in about fifteen days. The females seem to have two or three layings in the season, at intervals of two or three weeks. When the young Turtles are hatched, they are feeble, white, and about the size of frogs, and their instincts lead them at once to the sea. Under the fostering care of their mother, those which have escaped the birds of prey on their way to the sea, and the fishes lying in wait for them, rapidly develop, and attain, under favourable circumstances, an enormous size,—some of the Sphargis, or Soft Turtles, having been known to weigh from fifteen to sixteen hundred pounds,—while others, whose carapaces measured more than fifteen feet in circumference and seven feet in length, exceeded eighteen hundred pounds.

Marine Tortoises are met with in herds more or less numerous in all seas, principally towards the torrid zone in the tropical regions, on the shores of the Antilles, in Cuba, Jamaica, St. Domingo, the Gulf of Mexico, and in the Indian Ocean. Those occasionally found by navigators in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean seem to be wanderers separated from some travelling bands.

Of all reptiles, the Sea Tortoise is the most useful to man. In countries where they are common, and where they attain an enormous size, their flesh is the most healthy and nourishing food, and their carapace serves as a canoe in which the natives paddle along the shores. They even roof their huts with them; they convert them into drinking-troughs for their cattle and into baths for their children. According to Strabo and Pliny, the ancient inhabitants of the shores of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea converted the enormous carapaces of the Tortoise which frequented their shores into coverings for their houses, and boats for paddling along the coast. The fat of many species, when fresh, is used as a substitute for oil and butter. When the musk-like odour of this fatty substance, as in Chelonia caouana and C. caretta, becomes too repulsive for food, it is employed in embrocations, in tanning leather, or in lamps. The eggs of nearly all the Turtles are sought after for their flavour. Finally, the carapace of several species constitutes a valuable material much employed in the arts, and known as tortoise-shell. This material is sought after in consequence of its hardness and the fine polish of which it is susceptible, and also for the facility with which it is worked. It has a strong resemblance to horn, but is easily distinguished from it. Though, like horn, it is formed of parallel fibres, it seems to be rather the result of exudation, consisting of a kind of solidified mucus. Its texture is homogeneous; it can be cut and polished with precision and beauty; in short, under the influence of a gentle heat, it is softened and can be modelled into any fashion, according to the taste of the moulder; after becoming cool it retains the desired shape.

While most of the Tortoises are highly useful to man, both for food and other purposes, perhaps the most interesting are the Green Turtles (Tortues franches of French authors), Chelonia caouana and Caretta. From these man draws the greatest advantage from their superior size, and from the thickness of their shells. The Green Turtle (Chelonia Mydas, Fig. 40) is so called from the reflected green of its carapace. It abounds in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, where it keeps habitually far from the shore, except in the breeding seasons, when it makes long voyages in order to deposit its eggs, giving a preference for that purpose to Ascension Island and St. Vincent. It rests on the surface of the open sea, and as it sleeps heavily, it is easily taken by a cord with a running knot, which is carefully slipped round its neck as the boat containing the captors silently glides past. It is even said to be a practice with the Malay fishermen to dive beneath them, and attaching a cord to the foot of a sleeping Turtle, thus take it alive.

Many other modes are employed for capturing them. In the regions frequented by them in the breeding season, they are followed by their track on the sands, and their retreat cut off, when met with, by forming a circle round them, when they are thrown on their backs; hand-spikes sometimes being necessary to accomplish this from their great size. In this position they are helpless, and must remain until wanted, so that their enemies have time to pursue their sport elsewhere, as represented in Fig. 41. The next day they are collected or destroyed at leisure. In 1802 the crew of a French ship surprised a female Turtle on the Island of Lobos. The men had infinite trouble in making good its capture and throwing it on its back, for it was strong enough to drag them all towards the sea. It was at last mastered. Its head was as large as that of an infant, and its beak four times the size of a paroquet. It weighed two hundred and sixty pounds, and had in its body three hundred and forty-seven eggs. Turtles are also taken in nets, in the meshes of which their beaks and flippers get entangled; thus prevented from coming to the surface for air, they die of asphyxia. Others harpoon them on the open sea when they come to the surface to breathe. The harpoon is attached to a cord, by which the animal is soon brought to the surface and drawn into the boat. But the commonest mode of capture is approaching them in a boat as they float asleep on the surface—this must be done silently. When within reach, a back flipper is laid hold of by one of the crew, and by a sudden twist the Turtle is thrown on its back, when becoming helpless for the moment, it is dragged on board.

A very curious mode of fishing for Turtle is pursued by means of small fish, a species of Echeneis or Remora. These small fish are provided with an oval plate on the head, which consists of a score of parallel plates, forming two series, furnished on their outer edge with an oval disk, soft and fleshy at its circumference; in the middle of this plate is a complicated apparatus of bony pieces dispersed across the surface, which can be moved on their axis by particular muscles, their free edges being furnished with small hooks, which are all raised at once like the points of a wool-card. The fishermen keep many of these fishes in buckets of water. When they see a sleeping Turtle they approach it, and throw one of these suck-fish into the sea. The fish dives under the Turtle, and fixes itself inextricably to it by means of their cephalic disk. As the fish is attached to a long cord by means of a ring in its tail, the fish is drawn on board along with its victim. This is line fishing of a new kind, in which the hook is living, and pursues its prey in the bosom of the deep.

The Green Turtle, whose flesh is celebrated for its delicacy and excellence of its fat, is that from which Turtle soup is made. Turtle soup is only of recent invention, the first Turtle having been brought to London by Admiral Anson in 1752. It was long a costly dish, and even now, although the introduction of steam and other adjuncts to navigation has greatly modified the expense, its price is about ten shillings per pound weight.

Much of the tortoise-shell of commerce comes from the Green Turtle, but by far the finest specimens are produced by the Imbricated or Hawk's-bill Turtle, Chelonia caretta (Fig. 42). In this species the plates of the disk are imbricated, or lapping over each other, and thirteen in number. The muzzle is long and compressed; the jaws with straight edges, without dentation, curving slightly towards each other at their extremities, with two nails on each fin. It rarely attains the size or weight of the Green Turtle. The Hawk's-bill Turtle is met with in the Indian Ocean, and also on the American shores. It feeds on marine plants, on mollusks, and small fishes, and is chiefly sought after for its shell, which produces the finest tortoise-shell known; while its flesh is rendered unpalatable from its musky flavour. On the other hand, its eggs are excellent when fresh, and eagerly sought after.

In order to prepare the shell, it is softened by means of boiling after being torn from the animal's back. It is then flattened by being passed through a press, previous to being polished. In this condition it is ready for all sorts of ornamental work. The Loggerhead Turtle, or C. caouana (Fig. 43), like the Green Turtle, has its scales placed side by side. Its colour is brownish or deep maroon. It is found incidentally on the French and English coasts, and abounds in the Atlantic and Mediterranean seas. Its length is about four feet; its weight, from three to four hundred pounds. It is very voracious, and feeds principally on mollusks. Its shell is much valued, but its flesh is indifferent, and its fat altogether uneatable; however, it is used in some localities to make lamp-oil.

The Leather-back or Corded Tortoise, Spargis coriacea, differs from every other genus, its body being enveloped in a coriaceous hide; tuberculous in the young, perfectly smooth in adults. The feet are without claws. Seven longitudinal grooves extend from the neck to the tail, which remind one of the seven chords of the ancient lyre. Only one species of Sphargis is known (S. coriacea, Fig. 44). This species is found in the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean, and is, with the Hawk's-bill Tortoise, the only species found on the British coast. Its body is a light brown, with the lines of the carapace fawn-colour; its members black, edged with yellow. It attains the length of six to eight feet, and a breadth of about one-fifth of the length: it sometimes attains the weight of fourteen to sixteen hundred pounds. Its flesh is said to be unwholesome, and, on being eaten, to produce severe vomiting and purging.