The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-10-15


on his little sloop and 1 had eight kinds
of sport and more too. We caught king
fish all the way down. and at Marquesas
took them on my rod. Finally we reach
ed East Key, an island Of white sand
capped with bay cedar about two miles
long. 1t had been n great place for pirates
in the old days and the skipper told me
that more than $4,000 in gold had been
picked up on the very spot where we
landed. A big galleon had gone ashore on
the reef. The beach was perhaps sixty
feet wide, the upper part of II above tide
water was The home of the green and
loggerhead turtle, where they laid their
eggs.
we went ashore first in the morning,
and as there was nothing 10 do started
in to ind their nests, and you talk about
needles in a haystack, as clumsy as a
green or loggerhead turtle Is, he Is one
OF the cunningest of animals. When they
crawl up the beach they make a wide and
distinct track. The first one saw 1 said
to myself that it would be an easy propo-
sition so / followed ii up, but at the end
there was no nest. though I hunted all
over The beach. We hunted for them win
long wires, which we thrust down into the
Sand. / got as many by going in pot luck
as / did following up tracks. You see,
when a turtle is laying she crawls up to
high water mark or above It, but Instead
of digging a hole there she crawls along
the beach, perhaps fifty feet, then digs
and lays her eggs, covering them up. she
then, In a very clever way, crawls up and
down, completely obitterating all traces
OF the excavation.
"But the sport came in turning them
That night all hands went ashore and the
old man stationed us in parties or tWos
IN and down the beach, some six hundred
feet apart II was a beautiful night, ana
the moon was just rising over the water
as we took up our positions, the sentle
murmur of the water on the sand, ana the
occasional splash OF some big fish being
the only sounds heard. Our instructions
were 10 walk down to the waters edge
every fifteen minutes or so, one man TO
20 south, the other north; I'm this way we
would meet the other men three hundred
feet on both sides and in that way cover
the entire beach.
Il had made my walk half dozen
times before 1 had an experience. Then 1
ran across a curious track that looked as
though some one had been crawling up
the beach on all fours. / followed up the
trail and fairly stumbled on to big green
turtle on the upper beach. she gave
snort as she saw me, turned like Shot
and headed for the water. l sprang at
her and got on her back, and she carried
me along as though ! was a child out
soon fell off, then seized her by the edge
Of the shell and lifted. The moment l got
her side clear / received a blow in the
face from the fore fiipper that knocked
me to the sand. I jumped up and again
lifted her, yelling at the same time for
my companion, who came running, but the
turtle had made such Roadway now that
she was half way to the water. She had
filed my eyes with sand, but 1 managed
to grasp a hind leg and held on, but that
turtle just hauled me slowly along, and
would have taken me into the water. as
sure as fate, if my companion had not
appeared Just as he did and hit her on
the head with stick he had picked up.
Even this did not stop her, and she plowed
along, scratching gravel after great fash
ion. But nay companion was an old tur-
tier, and, making a rush, he lifted her
quickly while I showed, and over she went
on her back within ten feet of the wa
ter, where she would have been safe. We
sat down to get out breath, and l the
sand out of my eyes, both concluding tur-
tle-turning was about as exciting sport
as we had ever had. We cut holes in the
fippers and tied those on one side to-
gether, then hauled the turtle above high
water mark. Then we started again, and
l found, after catching two or three tur-
ties, that the turning was all a trick and
easy enough when one know how, and be
fore morning l had laid two on their
backs single handed, while all the men
had taken a dozen. They were hauled
into the shade under the bushes and kept
wet, and al the end of several days we
had over twenty These were taken
aboard, laid on their backs and taken
to Key West, where the skipper released
them In enclosures in shallow water call
ed turtle crawls,' and so We're kept alive
for shipment to New York.
zone day the old man said they were
going TO ship number and asked me If I
would like TO see the boys catch them.
went out in his dingy and there were four
or five Conch boys naked as the day they
were born, sitting on the fence of the
crawl, waiting for orders. At the signal
they went in head first. and it wasn't a
minute before each boy had a turtle. They
caught them under water, diving for them
and grasping the turtle by the shell just
back of the head and the way those tur-
ties towed the boys around was amazing;
now under water, now rushing along the
bottom, rising, falling, trying to get the
riders off, but all to no purpose. The
Conches held on like grim death, and in
a short time played the animals out, when
they easily directed them to gate where
they were caught, the fiippers tied again,
and then hauled into the boat and so
shipped North"