of the turtles which they caught into roofs for their houses and boats for their little voyages, as Strabo and Pliny testify. The latter, in the tenth chapter of his ninth book, enters at large upon the subject As an article of food the Green Turtles (Tortues Franches of the French), are so highly prized, that they have become a considerable article of commerce. The fat of many species, when fresh, is used with success in lien of butter and oil in cookery ; and in those species which have a musky odour (Chelonia Caouana and C. Caretta for instance), is used for embrocation, leather-dressing, and as lamp-oil.
The Imbricated Turtles furnish that valuable article tortoise-shell, or rather the beat sorts of it, so highly prized in ancient and modern times, and so ornamental and useful in the arts. The eggs of all the species, particularly those of the Green Turtles, are excellent In proportion to the benefits derived from the spoils of the turtles, the ingenuity of man has been sharpened by his eagerness to acquire them. One of the most obvious methods of capture was, and is, to watch the females as they emerge from the sea to deposit their eggs, and then turn them upon their backs on the high and dry sand, where they helplessly remain till the captors come to fetch them on the morrow. When the turtles lie floating on the sea, either for the purposes of sleep or respiration, the turtle-fishers approach them quietly with a sharp harpoon, carrying a ring at the butt-end, to which a cord is attached. The harpooner strikes, and the wounded animal dives, but is at last secured by the cord. In the South Seas skilful divers watch them when so floating, and, getting under the animals, suddenly rise, and so seize them. Mr. Darwin, with his usual felicity, describes another method of capture. In his account of Keeling Island, he says :—" I accompanied (April 6, 1836) Captain Fitzroy to an island at the head of the lagoon : the channel was exceedingly intricate, winding through fields of delicately branched corals. We saw several turtles, and two boats were then employed in catching them. The method is rather curious : the water is so clear and shallow, that although at first a turtle quickly dives out of sight, yet in a canoe or boat under sail, the pursuers, after no very long chase, come up to it. A man standing ready in the bows at this
moment dashes through the water upon the turtle's back ; then clinging with both hands by the shell of the neck he is carried away till the animal becomes exhausted, and is secured. It was quite an interesting chase to see the two boats thus doubling about, and the men dashing into the water, trying to seize their prey." (` Journal?) But the most extraordinary mode of fishing is that said to be prac tised towards the coasts of China and the Mozambique, where turtles are taken by the aid of living fishes trained for the purpose, and thence named Fisher-Fishes. The fact appears to have been known to Columbus, and has been verified by Commerson and cited by Middleton and Salt The fish is a species of Echeneis or Remora, and the islanders who use it are said to proceed in the following manuer:—They have in their little boat tubs containing many of these fishes. The upper part of the head of the fish is covered with an oval plate, soft and fleshy at its circumference. In the middle of this plate is a very com plicated apparatus of bony pieces, disposed across in two regular rows, like the laths of Persian blinds. The number of these plates varies from 15 to 36, according to the species ; they can be moved on their axis by means of particular muscles; and their free edges are furnished with small hooka, which are all raised at once like the points of a wool-crud. The tail of each of the trained fishes in the tubs is furnished with a ring for the attachment of a fine but long and strong cord. When the fishermen perceive the basking turtles on the surface of the sea, knowing that the slightest noise would disturb the intended victim, they slip overboard one of their Remoras tied to the long cord, and pay out line according to their distance from the turtles. As soon as the fish perceives the floating reptile he makes towards it, and fixes himself to it so firmly that the fishermen pull in both fish and turtle to their boat, where the fish is very easily detached by pushing its head in a direction from behind forwards, and the turtle is secured.
Chelonia, Brongn. (Caretta, Merrem).—Body covered with horny scales or shells. One or two nails on each fool.
Sub-Genus 1.—Chelendes Franches. Green Turtles.