The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-10-30
A storz About anrtIea-


Speaking about turtles" observed the
Weatner-Deaten traveller, who mad Joined
pdily Of VI ulnulerS seateu IN the sInOk-
ms room OF a Fullmau car, according 10
the chicago Times, ''Why, have literally
seen milAOns Oh Lnem aL once. Inc sea
Lor Hiles around as Tar as the eye could
where was this?" asked an inquisitive
Near the Galapagos Islands, of the
west coast Of South America was the re-
ply, anu then, as the other passenger ser
Tied back IN their seats, the weather.
beaten one spun this yarn:
H.. gu see, ne logan, we were on a
niue schooner ana were on our way from
1dlioa 70 81. Ambrose lslanu tor a IOad OF
guano. Well, the wind suddenly dIed out
go We besstll 20 ufiIJ. .iEis sIaje OF al
IaIIs Kept up Tor several days, until one
morning we SpIed land ahead over the port
should think
Now, you may not believe it. but we
suddenly ran into a shoal of big sea tUr-
yes mat We're so close together you could
HaIdIN see lne water. They were there IN
millions, ana tremendous fellows, too,
some or them weighing, I should judge,
more than 60 POUNDS. they lay all about
me schooner sides and didn't seem to
mind us a bit.
We were out of our course and it began
10 look as II we would never get out of
the mess we were in. Then, gentlemen, l
conceived an idea. ! told 1t to the car
Pehier, and he thought 1t was great, too.
And this is how it worked:
'We-that IS, the carpenter and myself
stepped over the vessels side and let
ourselves down on the back OF a great
turtle as gently as we could. Did he mind
~ Not a bit. He just raised one Of his
nlppers and winked his eve at US, as if he
would have said: Nov, what are YOU
fellows up to, anyhow
We had a lot of strong, flexible wire
aboard and each of us had a coil of it
over ms arm. we each carried a pair of
pIucherS, TOO. Then we started to work
we punched small hole in the after
part OF the turtles shell and fastened an
END OF WIRE in 1t and made the other end
last TO the anchor chain. Then we stepped
over to another turtle and repeated the
operation. We soon had about d dozen
turtles fastened in this manner.
me tun then commenced. We fired
on small cannon we had stationed on
the 10 site deck, and you should have
seen the CommotIon. The sea was dashed
all directions, tumbling over each other
and darling about like mad
our schooner was butfeted about and
lolted Ike a freight car being coupled to
694l4,y engine. But our turtles We're fast
Ihey could not escape, and soon we were
1orSing ahead at a ten-knot clip.
Wen, sirs, in less than two DAYS we
had those turtles trained so that they
would go wherever we wanted them
Ihey would stop or drive ahead or sheer
to port or starbOard. We had rugged bits
into their mouths, and had fish lines for
Telns. did the driving, and rare sport
IL was, I tell you.
- ~ we BuWIeQ along until we reached
St. Ambrose and there we came to anchor
about mile from shore. Two of the
turtles were -harnessed to a large fat
bottomed lighter, and owing to the rapid
ity OF the trips We loaded up our schooner
in very short time.
Then we hoisted anchor and pointed
for Calloa. We reached there in seven
days. 1t seemed too bad, but as we sold
no further use for our turtles we sold
them to marketman, who shipped them
to San Francisco"
But what did the turtles eat during all
this time?" queried the inquisitive pas
"Eatr replied the narrator with scorn.
don't you know that turtles can go with
out food for weeks and months at a
time? Why, when I was travelling up the
OrnoCo -"
At this point. however, the train pulled
into the station. and fifteen minutes for
refreshments" interrupted all further dis
course.