The Savannah morning news., 1903-08-30
By WILLIAM THoRP.

however, catching turtles on the Cen
tral American coast. They are the
turtle fishers-in-chief to the world.
Inc green turtle soup esteemed by the
aldermen of London, and by the pa
irons of the best restaurants in all the
cities of the United States, is placed
upon the table through the energy and
caring or these simple, plain-living
Caymanians. Themselves the least
luxurious of people, they provide the
world with one of its greatest luxu-
ries.
Turtle fishing is no easy task.
Squalls and hurricanes are FREQUENT in
the Caribbean, and many a Cayman
sailor has persisted with his schooner,
or fingered miserably in an open boat
under the blazing tropical sky, until
he died of hunger and thirst. Innum-
cradle coral reefs and sandbars add to
the dangers of navigation especially
along the Nicaraguan coast, where the
turtles are caught as they bask upon
the beach.
The Nicaraguans are another peril
They strongly object to the Cayman-
1ans catching turtles on their terri
tory, and try to mete out to them the
punishment awarded to seal poachers
in Siberian waters. The Nicaraguan
and British governments are always
nagging at one another on the sub
ject, and at the present moment they
are engaged in more than usually
bitter controversy over it.
But the Caymanians can generally
take good care of themselves. Seldom
month passes without their having
a fight on the beach with Nicaraguan
officials and soldiers. Nine times out
of ten the Caymanians win the battle
and carry off their turtles in triumph
to their schooner leaving half dozen
Nicaraguan stunned and senseless
on the sand.
The Nicaraguan government does
not want to have any Caymanians kill
ed in these ARRAYS lest the British
government should take serious offense;
and the soldiers do not. therefore. use
their rifles. They try to arrest the
Caymanians, whose oars and boat
stretchers are more than a match for
dubbed guns.
Lately the Nicaraguans have given
up their attempts to suppress the fish
cry, and now they are trying to collect
a. tax on each turtle caught. But the
Caymanians send the tax collectors
limping home with bruised shins and
broken heads.
'"They are sons of the devil" said a
Nicaraguan commandante, who had
had bitter experience of their ways.
ilCJ lush dIIlOHS Us Inc lIOHl
the pit, welding those terrible oars as
if they were walking canes. How can
l expect my men to face them? They
are twice our size, and we are children
in their hands. One of them, all alone,
would think nothing of charging a
squad of soldiers"
The Caymanians' Aversion of Money.
After the turtles have been fought
for and won, they are taken to Jamai-
ca by the schooners and sold to mer-
chants there, who ship them in ocean
liners to New York, Boston, Philadel-
phia and London.
With the money obtained by the sale
of the turtles. the Caymanians buy
flour, rice, cloth, pork and other sup
plies for their families and neighbors
at home. Until few years ago they
never used money. but transacted all
their business by barter. The growth of
their turtle fishery compelled them at
last to adopt a currency. Cayman post
age stamps have only been used for a
year or two, and they are much priced
by collectors. The mails-a new in
stitution-are carried at irregular inter-
walls by the turtle schooners.