, 1897-12-27
A CRUEL OPERATION.
THE PROCESS BY WHICH TORTOISE
SHELL is PROCURED.

StI6S6 10 EnoSohCO.
Fires Set on the Living Turtle to Sepa.
rate the Bony Layers Of tho House In
Which He Lives A Business That
Struck an Observer As Hcartle.s.
There arc many articles of daily and
hourly use constantly passing before
our eyes and through cur hands about
the production of which we know COM
paratively little or nothing. An inter
esting example of this is tortoise shell,
from which combs ayS hairpins arc
made, besides a multitude of trinkets
for the dressing table, the desk and
the pocket. Fierce cru:ades have been
instituted in recent years against the
slaughter of birds for the procurement
OF their plumage for hat trimmings,
and yet l venture to say that the proc.
ess of procuring tortoise she'll is a cru
city to animal life which far exceeds
that to which birds are subjected.
In the eia hties | happened to be down
i'll Blueiields, on that awful Mosquito
coast, and ut the invitation of one
Manuel Latona, who las the owner and
captain Of Il small schooner, went with
him to the cay Ell Roncador for tortoise
shell. This cay gets its name (which in
English would be the Snorer) from the
exceedingly angry surf, which can be
heard for n long distance breaking over
the reefs. This is the cay on which n
couple of years back the historic old
ship kearsarge was wrecked and bat
tered to pieces. FL Roncador is nothing
more or less than II typical coral is
land, such as is found throughout the
southern seas, three-quarters of u mile
long, perhaps, and not more than Il
quarter of Il mile across its widest part.
Surrounding the island is a reef, inside
of which the water lis smooth, and rath-
er shallow, and at the bottom of this
shallow water there grows II peculiar
kind of sea grass which is a dainty
food for the turtle tribes. There is also
found on he top Of the water inside the
reef a sort of small blubbcr fish, called
in Spanish dedalcs, or thiluble fish,
which is perhaps the greatest delicacy
of the entire turtle menu.
The turtle whose shell is valued in
III is a small species known as
the hawk bill. There are other v;.rie-
tics which come to FL RoLcador to
spawn, but they are not moleatod. Dur
ing the night the turtles crawl up on
the shore to lay their eggs, each female
deposlting OH an average about 70. To
do this they dig holes in the sund about
two feet deep and after laying the eggs
cover them over so deftly that it is al
most impossible for Il novice to find
them. These eggs are really delicious
when roasted, but the turtle fishers are
careful not to destroy those they do not
take for food, SO as to promote as much
as possible the increase of this valuable
sea reptile. At night the fishers conceal
themselves along the shore as well as
possible, and when the turtles come up
out of the water OH the beach they rush
forth and turn them over on their backs
with iron hooks, leaving them secure in
this position until morning.
The tortoise shell of commerce is not,
as is generally believed, the horny cover
ing or shell proper of the turtle; it is
the scales which cover the shield. These
scales are IL in number, s Of them be-
ing fiat and the other 8 somewhat curved.
-Four of those that are flat are quite
large, sometimes being as much as ~
inches long and Z inches bread, nearly
transparent and beautifully %variegated
in color with red, yellow, white and
dark brown clouds. which give the eff
fects SO fully brought out when the shell
is properly polished. A turtle of aver
age size will furnish about eight pounds
of these laminR, or scales. each piece
being from an eighth to u quarter of an
inch in thickness.
1t is the method by which these scales
are loosened which is the repulsive part
of the business. The turtles are not
killed, as that would lead to their ex-
termination in q very few years. After
capturing them the fishers wait for day
light to complete the work. The turtles
are turned over again in their natural
position and fastened firmly to the
ground by means of pegs. Then Il bunch
of dried leaves or sea grass is spread
evenly over the back Of the turtle and
set ntire. The heat is not great enough
t o injure the shell, merely causing it to
separate the joints. A large blade, very
similar in shape to a chemists spatula.
is then inserted horizontally between
the laminn, which are gently pried
from the back. Great care must be TAX
Ell not to injure the shell by too much
heat, and yet it is not forced off until it
Is fully prepared for separation by a
sufficient amount of warmth.
The operation, us one may readily
Imagine, is the extreme of cruelty, and
many turtles do not survive it. Most of
them do live, however, and thrive, and
in time grow Il new covering, just os
q man will grow IL new finger nail in
place of IL he might lose. The pecul-
iarity of the second growth Of she'll,
though, is that instead of reproducing
the original humber of ID segments it is
restored in one solid piece.
To sec the operation Of taking the
shell from the living turtle once is
about all q man of northern breeding
wants of it, and if the helpless reptiles
had the power of voicing their suffer
ings under it their cries would tell Of
as heartless u business as, man has yet
engaged in.-New York Post.