The History of A K I M A L S.

This species is frequent in the American seas, and it’s shell is thattal works, under the name of Tortoise-shell; authors call it Caretta.tasted, but is considerably inferior to that of some of the others.

'Tejiudo unguibus paimarum duobus> plantarum

unicis.

The 'Tejiudo } with two ungues on the fore feet , andone on the hinder.

The English name of this species might be apt to lead the unexperienced into theerror of supposing the colour of the shell, or of the whole animal, green; but it is aWest Indian name given it, from the fat having a greenish appearance at table : itgrows to a vast size; we had one lately drested at a tavern in London , of four-hundred and eighty pounds weight: the shell is of a figure approaching to oval,lightly hollowed at the top, to give room for the motions of the neck; and dentatedall round the sides, but slightly, and at considerable distances. The hinder extremityis obtuse; the colour is a dusky brown, shaded with a still darker, and the whole sur-face is divided into a number of irregular spaces by otlique and angulated lines: thehead is roundish; the opening of the mouth not very large ; the fore legs are of a con-siderable length ; the hinder ones short and broad, and the colour of the whole a dis-agreeable dusky brown.

This species is frequent about the American islands, but it breeds only in some fewplaces : the flesh is finely flavoured, and esteemed the best of that of any kind ; this iswhat we commonly in England mean by the word Turtle .

Tejiudo capite magnosubovato. %\)t WWer-htLwed %UltU y

The great oval-headed Tejiudo. CEOU&tUtt

This is a species easily distinguishable at sight from the others: it grows to a very con-siderable size ; the shell is. of a more regularly oval figure than that of any of the others ;it is often two feet and a half long, and two feet broad near the top, whence it gra-dually grows smaller to the hinder extremity, where it terminates in an obtuse point ;it is ofa dusky brown colour, variegated with a darker hue, and is divided into moreregular spaces than that of any other kind : the head of the animal is remarkably large,and it has a great fierceness in, it’s aspect: the legs are 1 short and broad, and the wholeanimal is of a dusky brown colour: this is the worst tasted of all the kinds, and it’s shellis of little value; whence it is suffered to live more at peace than any of the others,and consequently is greatly more numerous.

It is a native of the East and West Indies, and is the greatest traveller of all the Tor-toise kind : it has been found at open sea, at vast distances from any land.

The other species are, i. TheTestudo arcuata, called the Trunk-turtle; and, bythe French , Coffre. 2 The little land Testudo. 3. The great, thick, small-headed Testudo.

The Americans find so good account in the taking of Turtle , that they have madethemselves very expert at it: they watch them from their nests on shore in moon-lightnights, and, before they reach the sea, turn them on their backs, and leave them tillmorning : the creature can by no efforts recover it’s first posture, and consequently theyare sure of finding as many as they have thus turned : at other times they hunt themin boats, with a peculiar kind of spear, striking them with it through the shell, eitheras they lie on the surface of the water, or underneath it. When they have once gotsight of a Turtle, patience and attention seldom fail to make them sure of it: the crea-ture dives, as soon as it perceives itself pursued'; but, as it must every now and then rife tothe surface for breath, they by this means know where it is: when tired with flyingfrom them, it generally plunges to the bottom at once, where, if the water be not toodeep for the length of the handle of the spear, they easily strike it. The spear is of avery simple form, it is no more than a peg of iron, two or three inches long, fastened tothe end of a handle of ten or twelve feet in length, in the manner of the iron of theharpoon used in the whale-fishery : there is a cord fastened to the iron, and, when thestroke is given, the head separates easily from the handle; but, the cord remainingfastenedto it, the creature is managed by it with great ease, especially if it have been first tiredwith the pursuit.

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used in ornamen-It’s flesh is well

The greenTurtle.

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