The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1874-09-24

beach in search of turtle eggs, for which
they have keen relish. The turtles break
from the sea on the night OF May Z. From
that time until the 1st of September they
throng the beach. After depositing their
eggs beneath the burning sand, they set
tie down among the coral rocks that APP
pear above the water at low tide There
they are caught by the few people living
along the coast between San Augustine
and Key West, who are thus furnished
with delicacy almost unknown in North
ern attitudes Some OF the fishermen carry
their turtles to Key West, but the market
there is generally overstocked, and the
business is by no means remunerative.
OF all the turtles frequenting the beach
the green turtle is the most highly priced
In early spring may of these are caught
in nets in the Indian, Hillsborough and
Halifax rivers. The water is salt and sub
ject to the action of the tide The nets
are stretched across the channels of the
rivers. As the turtles come numbering
along with the current, they are entangled
in the mcshes and are captured The fish
ermen drops his prey i'm what is termed a
crawl" where it is kept awaiting the
market demand, OF until its captors hank
crawls are distinguishing features of the
salt water rivers. Cypress stakes are
driven into the sand and water some rods
from the shore in the form Of a square.
The water is from two to lhree feet in
depth, and flows through the intervals be
tween the stakes. At distance the craW Is
look like pig pens at anchor. The word
"craWl' Is probably a corruption of the
Spanish corrm The natives persist in
pronouncing and spelling it c-r-a-W-l
While in captivity the turtle seems per
lectly at home He is purely water hog.
AS long as his stomach is filled he Is
happy. He is fed a peculiar grass reSem-
bling pulse that is found upon the bottom
of the rivers. 1t is this grass that gives
the green turtle 4 delicious flavor Like
the canvas-ba back duck, he subssts entirely
upon vegetarian diet The loggerhead-
and other varieties eat fish and are not so
eagerly sought
The beacn is the summer resort OF the
coalser-gralncd turtles. A few green ones
troop along in their wake. but they ara
outnumbered 10y the loggerheads ;rnd
she'll backs The king of the sands is tht
great trunk-backed turtle, He carries a
she'll built up from his back like Il tower,
and presents an interesting appearance a>
he craWls along the sand Beauhcomher>
say that their shells are from two to five
feet thick The flesh i, regarded rs Z
great luxury, and single shells arc sold to
curiosity y-seekers, at prices ranging from
fifty to a hundred dollars. The trunk
| back, however, is becoming very scarce
None are taken north ot Lake Worth
They keep below the line ot nuSt Ii
size they are enormous. Mr. Charles
Moore, Qt Castle Rag, tells me that he ha>
trapped them weighing from six to ei4ht
hundred pounds Ii i hard to say what
| causes the peculiar conformation of til.
she'll. Mr. Moore thinks they are cen,
tenarian loggerheads, and that each ridge
is the weight OF a certain number o
years THEN necks are shrivelled anl
they bear the marks of oh age in then
faces They bite tcrociou,N, and couI,
easily NIP OFT leg on an arm
! Inrtlr~ rnnght on tho Lravh hetWtrl
Jupiter and Cape Sable average from IT.,
to $50 pounds. Many people Eat the log
| gerhead. Some declare that thry prpirI
it to the green turtle The descendent.
of the Minorcans cook it in way that dc
stroys the tcshy taste and renders tic
meat extremely paatable It, breath i
tetd and disagrceable, but there il moth
ing offensive about green turtle.
The most delicious Of all is the leather
back. This is a small turtle, found ii
| both fresh and salt water At the cdot
its shell is as soft As iujube paste, but in
creases IN soldity as it mounts the back
| The centre of the back is OF circular form
about the size OF trade dollal, and hare
as ivory. The leather-back is taken whIt
sleeping upon the surface of the. water
None are sent north. They are caught by
long-handled gaif-hook, the point q
which IS jerked through the soft port ion
Of the shell Along Lake Worth thes,
turtles are found in abundance. They arc
OF dark color, lacking the light grassy
hue Of the green turtle and the delicat,
yellow OF the logger-head 1t is not I'm.
common to see Il turtle floating upon the
water fast asleep while a pair Of gull arc
making love upon Its back.
| have heard Floridians speak highly OF
4 land turtle, which attains a large Size.
in the lower part of the peninsula 1t
lives IN holes in the ground They cali it
a gopher. 1t resembles the common land
turtle of New \ ork and New Jersey. and
is protected by a hinged door OF she'll.
both fore and att. Negroes and lHdians
60 lrto ecstaclcs over its steaning soup.
The inhabitants of the coast, however.
prize its seggs far above the turtle Females
begin laying on the 9TH of MAY. Old hr-
tie catchers assert this date with much
positiveness, They say that no turtle was
ever known to drop an egg before the 7lh
tayl al
beach at night Their course upon the
sand is marked by the trailing of their
tails and t1ippers, The trail from the wa
ter to point above high tide is as straight
as = line Approaching a chosen spot
the turtle makes gentle swerve to the
north, and sounds the sand with her dip
pers Satisfied of the desuablenes4 Of the
situation, she begins to dig hole To do
this her hindtlippers alone are used Her
work Is remarkable, if not artistic. The
hole is shaped like the inside of large
Jug Its neck is small, but its interior is
circular, and from fifteen to twenty or
more inches in diameter The siar>, are
smooth and rounded through the use of
the tlippers. No workman in Il pottery
could turn cut a job more true
Frequently the turtle is dissatisfied with
her labor. Probably she finds the Ground
undermined by the brigEi-eyed sand-crab
that dance along the shore. In that case
she makes curve to the east and marches
directly to the water, emerging at some
other point and going through the same
performance. Sometimes she digs lonr
or five holes before she beg ins to deposit
her eggs.
Her nest finished, the female turtle set
ties down to her work Up to this time
she invariably takes to the water at the
approach OF a stranger. Alter She begins
to lay, the presence of an army could not
frighten her A man could stand upon
her back, and she would keep her position
until the last egg was dropped. DR.. Frank
Fox. well-known hunter of New Smyrna
tells me that he once saw bear take his
stand behind a turtle on the nest. Bruiu
caught the eggs in alternate paws as they
fell and devoured them with smack of
the chops that could be heard at the dis
tance of a hundred yards. Bears have
heen known to watch turtles for hours,
and then tear them to pieces because they