the rest, and its back higher and rounder. The flesh of this is rank, and not very wholesome.

The Loggerhead is so called from the largeness of its head, which is much bigger in proportion than that of the other kinds. The flesh of this also is very rank, and not eaten but in case of necessity.

The Hawksbill Turtle is the least of the four, and has a long and small mouth, somewhat resembling the bill of an hawk. The flesh of this is also very indifferent eating; but the shell serves for the most valuable purposes. This is the animal that supplies the Tortoise-shell, of which such a variety of beautiful trinkets are made. The substance of which the shells of other Turtles are composed, is thin and porous; but that of the Hawksbill is firm, and, when polished, is beautifully marbled. They generally carry about three pounds; but the largest of all, six pounds. The shell consists, as in all the kinds, of thirteen leaves, or plates, of which eight are flat and five hollow. They are raised and taken off by means of fire, which is made under the shell, after the flesh is taken out. As soon as the heat affects the leaves, they start from the ribs, and are easily raised with the point of a knife. By being scraped and polished on both sides, they become beautifully transparent; or are easily cast into what. ever form the workman thinks proper, by mak ing them soft and pliant in warm water, and then

screwing them in a mould, like a medal: how. ever, the shell is most beautiful before it undergoes this last operation.

The green Turtle, which has so long, been esteemed as an article of luxury by the rich, is so named, from the green colour of its fat. It abounds in the West Indies to such a degree, that Catesby says, 40 sloops are employed by the inhabitants of Port Royal in Jamaica, for the sole purpose of catching them; and that the markets are there supplied with turtles, as ours are with butcher's meat. It is found also, in great quantities, on the coasts of all the other islands and continents in the middle parts of the earth. These places produce vast quantities of sea plants, which though covered by the wa ter, are near enough to the surface to be readily seen by the naked eye, in calm weather; amidst these sub-marine pastures, great numbers of green turtle are often seen, feeding quietly on the plants which are produced there.

The length of the green Turtle is sometimes upwards of six feet, and the weight five or six hundred pounds. Dampier mentions an im mensely large one that was caught at Port-Royal, in the Bay of Campeachy. It was nearly six feet in width, and four feet in thickness. A son of Captain Roach, a boy about ten years old went in the shell, as in a boat, from the shore to his father's ship, lying about a quarter of a mile distant.

After having satisfied its appetite upon the grass, sca weed, and other plants which grow at the bottom, the turtle often times retires to the fresh water at the mouth of the great rivers, where it floats on the surface, holding its head above, for the purpose of breathing the fresh air. But as it is surrounded with many dangers, both from its enemies of the deep and from mankind, it is obliged to use great precaution in thus indulging itself with cool air, and with the refeshing streams of river water. The instant it perceives even the shadow of an object, from which it suspects danger, it dives to the bottom for security.

The account which Catesby has given respecting the manner in which the inhabitants of the Bahama islands, in the West Indies, catch their turtles, is very satisfactory. "These people," he says, "go out in the month of April, in little boats, to Cuba, and other neighbouring islands, where in the evening, especially in moonlight nights, they watch the going and returning of the turtle to and from their nests, at which time, they turn them on their backs, when they leave them and pass on, turning all they find; some are so large that it requires three men to turn one of them, and these must often employ even handspikes, for that purpose. Once they are laid on their back, the upper shell is so flat, that they are quite helpless, and can never more recover their feet. "

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But many turtles are taken not on land but in the sea, and at a considerable distance from the shore. These are struck with a kind of spear, whose shaft is about four yards in length. For this work, two men usually get into a small. and light boat, or canoe, one to paddle it gently along, and steer, and the other to stand at the head with his weapon. Sometimes the Turtles are discovered swimming with their head. and back out of water; but they are most commonly seen lying at the bottom, where the water is a fathom or more in depth. If the animal perceives that he is discovered, he immedi ately attempts to escape. The men pursue and endeavour to keep him in sight, and generally so far tire him, that, in the course of half an hour, he sinks to the bottom, which affords them an opportunity to strike him with the spear through the shell. The head of the spear, which now slips off and is left in his body, is fastened with a string to the pole; and by means of this apparatus, they are enabled to pursue him, if he should not be sufficiently spent without it: if however, that is the case, he tamely submits to be taken into the boat, or hauled ashore.

In some parts of the South Seas, a peculiarly dexterous method is adopted of catching Turtles. A bold diver throws himself into the water, at some distance from the place where the Turtles are observed floating asleep on the surface. He dives under the animals, and rising gently

behind one of them, seizes the upper shell just behind the tail, and pressing down the hinder part in the water, obliges the fore-part of the animal now awakened, to keep upright, and and thus prevents it from diving until his companions come with a boat, and take him and his prey on board.

Green Turtles are sometimes caught on the European shores, driven thither by stress of weather. In the year 1752, one, six feet long and four broad, weighing betwixt eight and nine hundred pounds, was caught in the harbour of Dieppe, after a storm. In 1754, a still larger one, upwards of eight feet long, was caught near Antioche, and was carried to the abbey of Long-veau, near Vannes, in Brittany; and a few years ago, a small one was caught amongst the submarine rocks near Christchurch, Hants.

The introduction of the Turtle, as an article of luxury, into England, appears to have taken place within the last seventy years. We im. port them principally, if not entirely, from the West India islands.