Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-11-25

tolSeS IN straw until they are a few weeks
old, and then put them into the water
one of the most remarkable ways of cap
turing wild terrapn, by the way is with
pointer dogs. which are trained to trail
and find them in the salt marshes. When
one is found. the dog puts his foot on it
and barks for his master.
Unquestionably tortoises must be con-
sidered as occupying the first rank among
the commercial reptiles. The business of
hunting the great turtles supports
many thousands of fishermen in various
parts of the world OF these marine tor
toises the best known are the green
turtle and the 'hawksbill." The latter.
which furnishes the tortoise-shell of
commerce. is of no value for food. Its
name comes from the shape of its 'beak' -
which is able to infiict very severe bite.
The finest tortoise-shell comes from the
Malay Archipelago and is shipped from
Singapore. but much of good quality is
obtained from the Florida coast A very
large hawksbill turtle will yield sixteen
pounds of shell. There are three rows of
plates on the back, the middle row con-
tanning five and the others four each.
Around the edge of the shell are twenty
five smaller plates called moses" For
merly the under shell was thrown away.
but now it is highly valued. Tortoise
shell is so beautifully initiated in cows
horn that only an expert can tell the diff
ference.
The green turtles which reach the
Northern market in this country come
mostly from Florida. There is a different
species on the Pacific coast. All epicures
appreciate the delicious quality of their
meat. This kind of marine tortoise at
tains an enormous size, individuals run
ming up to one thousand pounds in
weight. 1t feeds on sea plants, mostly
''turtle-grass," which it cuts off near the
roots. eating the lower parts, and leav-
Ing the tops floating. so that they col
lect sometimes in great fields From
time to time the green turtles go to the
mouths of rivers for bath of fresh wa
ter. and fishermen say that on such oc-
casiOns they roll up great balls of sea-
grass, and when the tide floats them sea-
ward. follow them. In spring the female
comes ashore and scoops a pit in the
sand with her hind legs. Then she lays
from $50 to 200 eggs and covers them with
sand. From the eggs an oil is obtained
but the sO-called "turtle-oil' soap is made
from beef fat.
The "leatherback' is another enormous
sea tortoise, but it cannot be said to have
any commercial Importance It's oil is
useful as lubricant. The 'loggerhead''
turtle is one of the largest of marine
chelonians. individuals reaching a weight
of 1860 pounds and a length of nine feet
1t is a fast and strong swimmer, and can
hardly be captured or killed unless caught
sleeping. IL is often seen HOatlng, fast
asleep. many miles from land Unlike
other sea turtles, it is carnivorous, eat
ing crabs, fishes and a variety of she'll
fish. With its powerful jaws it cracks the
shells of the biggest conchs. Young log
gerhead is good in stew or SOUP but the
meat of old ones is leathery and musky.
The breeding habits of the animal are
much the same as those of the green tur-
tie. Turtle eggs generally are perfectly
spherical, but there is always dimple in
each One which. being pressed out in one
spot-the shell is soft, like delicate parch-
fundamentally appears on the other
side. Strong men have spent days in
vainly trying to get the dimple out of a
turtle egg.
Greedy and improvident man has very
nearly exterminated race of tortoises
which might have been made to serve as
a source of large annual food supply for
many centuries to come. These are the
giant land turtles which live on the
islands of the little Galapagos Archipel-
ago, belonging to Ecuador right on the
line of the equator, and just six hundred
miles west of that country. The islands
are volcanic peaks nearly all of them
uninhabited by man, and overrun by va
rious domesticated animals turned wild
There are wild jackasses which. for I'M
known reasons, have acquired a habit of
sitting up on their launches like rabbits
Flocks of wild chickens are numerous
and thousands of wild pussy-cats, every
one of them entirely black, live in crew
ices of lava near the coast and get liv-
ing by hunting for crabs and fishes.