New-York tribune., 1903-01-04
TERRAPINS AND TURTL ES.
FvpEp1FICFs IN GETTING THEM-WHY
FORMER ARE so EXPENSIVE


I have never tasted terrapin quite as fine as
this said the man who dined out most OF ihe
time to his friend the epicure, who sat on his
right al tbs elaborate dinner
-.Jt's the real article-the genuine Maryland
diamond back and no mistake returned the
eplcure-
But 1 thought they were practically extinct
and that we were getting along on substitutes
the Biloxi from the Mississippi sWaInps anu 'ie
golden terrapin from the West"
IF Won were host tonight you would realize
how rare the real diamond back has become
said the epicure who is from Maryland and
knows all about the toothsome luxury for winch
the State is famous. These probably cost MN
al the rate Of 500 a dozen, and I'll wager he
had trouble getting them at that"
Where DO they come from and why SO
scarce?- asked the other
.-CrisfeId a little settlement on the coast Is
the centre of the trade to-day said the man
from Maryland. They have constructed pohus
in the marshes near the sea where the terrapln
are stored according TO size, until the orders
come. They were never too plentiful in Mary
land Long before the war the legislature
nasse5 a law prohibiting slave owners from
feeding terrapin TO their blacks more than twice
a week Our fathers did not think then that lheIr
sons and daughters would be paying for the
1,,,7,-- At the rate of 500 dozen, but they felt
that the supply would not be equal to the de-
mand after the cultivated terrapin taste spread
to other States There are several reasons LOT
the passing of the diamond back 1t Is prlhcl-
ns1Iv due to the destruction of the eggs WHICH
the females stow away in the mud. The crows
are the chief offenders in the destruction Of the
eggs. and there seems to be no way OF protect
ing them except by the use of incuDators-
Tho had uassed with more or less regret 10
+ba next course by this time, when the man on
-ta left of the epicure broke out: You fellows
haen talking about this terrapin, haven't you
Ever hunt real turtles down on the FLORIDA
keys"
They knew he had a fish story and the only
thing n do was to let him tell it and get II over
as soon as possible.
.T nut in a winter down on the Long heg'
he began. "and you may not believe II, put l
captured big green turtle single hanoed on tue
o1,ter reef When I first suggested it the guides
and fishermen and beachcombers took good
,arsb at NV expense. Can you stay down
ta1f a., bo,,r?' drawIed one of them II you can
,,o,,,re q dandy, and you may get one Ihls
,,aaa mo all the more determined to try.
Turtle meat is beefsteak for the people OF the
va,-e and the laying season is harvest time
The turtles come out of the sea In the bFllliHI
t-opical moonlight, crawl over strip OF sahoy
heacb Law their eggs and return to the water
r. . 5irerent route The negroes lie in wait
er,- .bena and make the capture by turning the
bip Ioggerheads upon their backs. 1t demands
oertsin skill or the hunter is liable 10 ma
himself sprawling On the sand, rubbing blow
fror, q mighty aipper- Anyway they get forty
.or fifty of the big green cra~Iers each season.
and they keep them in turtle corrai uhth 'ieS
want them for the table.
IN me a
e.-+,,-f,y 4 turtle single handed. You could see