Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1899-01-19
TURTLE ~" SUPERSTITION.
Was Once Regarded as Sacred by tn,
Natives OF Vaiala.


The South Sea turtle, though
smaller, is just as rich an article OF
diet Ms the green turtle OF the Yves,
Indies. The ocean about Samoa
swarms with turtles, and M certain
or the islands there are beaches
son of laying their eggs, From one
of these beaches resident OF Apia
obtained half Il dozen turtles alive
lie had some sort OF an idea that by
keeping them for awhile and then
turning them loose they would ca.
tablish themselves on his beach and
return regularly In the egg season
II was taking theory; II had been
proved to work la the case OF brook
trout and Goldfish. and II should suc.
coed In the case Of turtle. He bull,
large pen on his beach In the suburb
OF Naiala, lts walls were guaranteed
turtle proof, they Included n nice
sunny beach, a shady stretch of street,
a pool which the tide never emptled.
Every 9r2laution was takNn tina,
the turtles should not escape, and by
their escape spoil the experiment
Every provision was made for the
comfort OF the captives. and the sup
ply was generous of such articles as
ii was supposed that the turtles fed
upWi. The new proprietor OF this nc,
Cllmation station set before MIN the
task of habituating his turtles b,
Kind treatment and abundance of food
to his particular beach, hut there
were others who saw In II nothing but
n turtle farm, and nj the same time
that the cXporlmuNtCr was making u
vain effort to get his pets to come u,
a whistle these others wore watching
with watering mouths the fattenlnc
Of his turtles,
One fine morning there was II break
IA the fence of tho turtle pen. In the
darkness the wall had been thrown
down, and the captlyos had vanished
fhc experiment IN acclimation of sea
turtles was at an end. Very naturally
suspicion fell on the Samoan popula
ton of Naialn. It hardly seemed
possible that the turtles could destroy
| the wall after 1t had stood against
them so long But Vaiaa Ms com
| munity was shocked mt the suspicion
that II would commit theft and in
tcrforc with an experiment whlch
would result SO much to the advun
tage Of the village, And there was
another roasCn why the village could
not have done the foul decd. II was
not a thing to speak of In public. but
the chief Of the town came privately
and divulgcd Il, In the old days OF
hcathendpm the Nnian gnd inhabited
the turtle IL would have been death
to Amy Naiala man 10 cat turtle meat
Now they were M Christians, but
tn" people were superstiiions nnd
would not have anything To do with
turtle
With equal privacy tho native p..
tor called aud rchearsed the sam,
sad showing as to the efficacy OF his
ministry, converted though they might
be from their old paganism Valala
was yet to supcrstitioua To have any
thing to do with the missing turtles
Elders Of the town council, maids OF
the village. ancient cronos who were
supposed to be as wise AZ witches
each came under the veil Of secrecy
and confidence with a full confession
of the positive sanctlty of turtles In
NaIala. and AS result Of that 81.
pcrStition the certainty that tho pre-
served animals had escaped and had
not been eaten by the neighbors.
It Ia a problem In ethics. The per
was surely strong enough to hold tho
turtles. he turtle was renlly the
ancestral god OF Vaiala, and as such
not to be eaten when they were yet
in heathendom. Yet Vaiala smiled
as those smile who have eaten turtle
with no qualms OF theology. Philn-
delphla Inquirer.
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