The northern tribune. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1847-1855, 1847-12-17


from little distance, the arrow being so ele-
waited, that in falling, it strikes and penetrates
the shell. In this, even long practice can
scarcely make perfect; and fifty arrows may
be shot at the unconscious sleeper before he is
secured.
The muscular power of the turtle is so
great, that, when unwounded, he is first rate
tug. A rather curious proof of this was re-
ceived, in the year 1896, by a slave, who was
fishing alone in his little canoe off the island
of Martinique. The man fell in with an i'm
mense turtle lying fast asleep on the surface OF
the water; and conceiving that he had STUN
bled upon prize, he drew near cautlon2ly'
and passed the boats painter, with running
knot, around one of the creatures hlppers.-
The sleeper awoke, and seeing something near
him that was not an honest looking turtle like
himself he took to flight, drawing canoe and
man in his wake, without seeming to feel that
he had any burden at all. The slave was
nothing daunted by proceeding which he Of
course had expected. and he sat very quietly
in the stern of his skiff, steering with his pad
die, and hoping every now and then that the
turtle was getting tired, or was near the
drowning. But the courser, whose services
he had thus treacherously impressed, was res
tive and in one of his vagaries the canoe was
capsized. This was too common an accident
to be thought anything of; and after some
trouble, he righted his boat, and took his seat
in her as before, but with the loss of paddle
knife, fishing lines everything, in short, it
had contained. Having now no paddle to
steer with, he was at this mercy OF circum
stances and the capsize occurred again, again.
and again, the turtle always taking advantage
of his fare being engaged in turning UP the
canoe to rest himself on the surface of the
;nto ind fOr a
On they SKINNED along the liquid plain,
till the sudden night of the tropics came down
upon that desert sea, and the slave found
himself whirling in the dark at the tail OF
what must now have seemed marine demon
The sun rose again upon his fate, and seemed
to lend fresh vgor to his ravisher. Fain
would he have dispensed with the services he
had of his own will enlisted but without
paddle, without knife, he felt himself even
too happy in being able to cling to the boat at
all. On, therefore, they hurried. on journey
that seemed to have no end, and which was
diversified only by the occasional capsize OF
the canoe, and the simultaneous halt and
refreshment Of the turtle. Incredible as 1t
may appear, the second night arrived, and
was passed in the same manner; and it was
not till the next morning that the animal eX-
hibted symptoms of WEAKNESS and stupefac-
III,
a shoal The slave by this time was half dead
with hunger, thirst, and fatigue; but yet he
had energy enough left to kill his enemy, and
feast his spoils
In Dr. Lang's recent account OF north
eastern Australia we have the following de-
scription of the mode OF capturing turtles in
Moreton Bay The greatest excitement
prevails in hunting the turtle tor it can
scarcely be called fshing,) black natives being
always of the party. and uniformly the princi-
pal performers. The deepest silence must
prevail and if the slightest noise is made by
any European of the party, the natives, who
assume the direction of affairs, frown tie OF
fender into silence. They are constantly
looking all around them tor the game, and
their keen eye detects the turtle in the deep
water when invisible to Europeans. Sudden
ly, and without intmation of any kind, one Of
them leaps over the gunwale of the boat, and
dives down in the deep water between the
oars and perhaps after an interval of three
minutes, re-appears on the surface with
large turtle AS soon as he appears with his
prev, three or four other black fellows leap
overheard to his assistance, and the helpless
creature is Immediately transferred into the
boat. A black fellow has in this way not I'M
eouently brought up turtle weighing five
hundred weight. Great personal courage
as we'll as great agility, is required in this
hazardous employment, the black fellows
heing frequently wounded by the powerful
stroke of the animals fippers.'
In the Indian Ocean, the plan is somewhat
different. When Mr.. Darwin visited Keeling,
one of the lagoon islands of coral formation,
he had an opportunity of witnessing the sport,
which appears to afford still more picturesque
and exciting scene. The shallow, clear. and
still water of the lagoon, he tells us resting
in its greatest part on white sand, is when
illumined by vertical sun. of the most vivid
green 1t is girdled round by line of snow
white breakers from the darkly heaving wa
tiers of the ocean while strips of land, form
ing the island circle. are crowned Oy the level
81 ho