Morning journal and courier., 1886-08-31

i found it convenient to put her ashore so that she could not be carried off, and I went down the coast to see if I could not fix mat 1 ters up, and it was a month before I sailed | back to Frisco the schooner. Where we were was about as desolate a place as you l could find anywhere; almost nothing to do except to go fishing and shooting, and this I 1 did every afternoon.
 "One day six or seven of the men-in fact l about all hands of us-went ashore and | pulled into little bay that set in with very 1 shallow water. l reckon we had gone half a | mile right along shore within ten feet of it, when saw on the beach what supposed to l be barrel about thirty feet from the water, 1 and sang out to the skipper in the bow: l That's curious place for barrel' That's no barrel; it's @ turtle,' he answered. So it was and at that moment it turned about and started for the water, while we went for shore. It didn't take half a dozen strokes and we all tumbled out and rushed for the monster that was serambling for the water for all he was worth. Lay hold of the flip
 pers, boys!' shouted the skipper, and lay hold we dld-two on each fore one and one
 on each hind one. You've seen these tugs of war? Well, it was like that, only the turtle was doing all the tugging. She walked away with us just if we had been so much paper, and in about ten seconds
 knocked me off my legs, throwing sand like a whirlwind. She took us ten feet toward the water in this way aud then I suggested turning her. Three of us grabbed her by
 one side, another man put an oar under her.
 while the others pulled on the other side. I
 reckon we raised her two feet, just enough
 for her to get room to swing her fiipper,
 which was four feet long and armed with
 regular spines; I thought I heard it whistle
 andit hit one of the men a crack cutting
 hit arm and sending him clean off his feet;
 then down she went, scrambling again.
 sI seized the oar then and got in front of
 ho,-o baar ha,, haoI # hoo
 of the men hauled the boat along and got it
 broadside on, and in minute she was half
 in it, trying to climb over; then we had her.
 Some one took the painter, which happened
 to be a long one, and fastened it by run
 ming bow line to her hind fipper, then we
 all took hold and held her; but I believe she
 would have walked right over the boat if her
 under shell had not caught in the gunwale.
 There she was, but how long she was going
 to stay was question. The skipper pro-
 posed that we cut slit in her fippers and
 tie them over her back, but we had no rope,
 so there we stood holding on hard and look
 ing her over. She was about seven feet long
 l judge, shaped something like an ordinary
 turtle, only the shell had no scales; being
 made up seemingly of longitudinal plates, so
 that there were five prominent ridges extend
 ing, as you said D turning to the sailor, ''fore
 and aft. She also was- covered with barna-
 cles and her eyes were placed almost verti-
 cally in her head, which certainly had sav
 age appearances the upper mandible being
 regular hook like an eagles bill Altogether
 she was about curious creature I had
 ever heard of, and though I knew what it
 was well enough it differed so from the de-
 scription that I was puzzled. She was so
 heavy we could never have lifted her, and
 must have weighed certainly from eighteen
 hundred to two thousand pounds.
 s'While we were examining her l reckon
 she was making up her mind what to do, for
 all at once she began to struggle and fell
 down sidewise by the boat, and despite all
 our efforts pushed along, dragging us into
 the water. l. was a short heat I can tell you, for as soon as she got where those four footed fippers could take hold it was like trying to hold back tug. The skipper yelled, Let her go, boys, and tumble in; she's fast to the painter;' so we let her go and rushed for the boat, and in minute we were shooting down that bay behind the tur- tie in way that would have made the tives stare. The painter was fast to only one f1ipper, which gave the boat kind of slue, and soon she began to yaw from one side to the other, the way boat does just before she thinks of swamping; but I got in the bow and the rest we'll aft, while the skipper got out an oar and we kept head on well as we could. The speed was something big can tell you. If we could only have run | her in shoal water it would have been all right, but she was now taking us right out, and as soon as we began to strike the seaway | saw that if she took fancy to go deeper we would go too. So I took out my knife | and got little slack on the painter, then | passed little aft. We hauled until there 1 was enough for all hands, then we gave way | hard to see if we couldn't take her along side. I reckon we had given about four pulls when she got mad and gave rush. We couldn't let go quick enough and down we went ill 8 heap: then I cut the rope and let her go, convinced that six men could not tackle a turtle of that size unless they were prepared for it. If we had had a harpoon and plenty of rope or rife, it might have
 been different, but as it was she got away from us'
 ''Well,'' said the sailor, the colonel
 finished speaking, Eff it wasn't sea
 pint it's the sea sarpint's mate, and that's
 next to it, and that's what 1 saw."