We Saw
Likewise Abundance Of Guanas, And Some Racoons, Which Barked And Snarled
At Us Like Dogs, But Were Easily Beaten Off With Sticks.
The water is
more worthy of remark than any other thing we saw here, as we only found
two
Good springs, which ran in large streams; the others being bitter
and disagreeable, proceeding, as I suppose, from being impregnated by
shrubs or roots growing in the water, or from some mineral.
The turtle we found here are of a different sort from any I had ever
seen, though very good. Though it is ordinarily believed that there are
only three sorts of sea-turtles, yet we have seen six or seven sorts at
different times, and our people have eaten of them all, except the very
large whooping or loggerhead kind, which are found in great plenty
in Brazil, some of them above 500 pounds weight. We did not eat of
these, because at that time our provisions were plentiful. At the
Gallapagos, both males and females were observed to come on shore only
in the day time, quite different from what I had heard of them at other
places; whereas all we caught here were by turning them over in the
night, when the females come on shore to lay their eggs and bury them in
the dry sand. One of these whom we caught had 800 eggs in her belly, 150
of which were skinned over and ready for being extruded at once. Some
authors alledge that these eggs are six weeks in hatching, which I can
hardly credit, as the sun makes the sand in which they are deposited
excessively hot, and they are only covered by a very thin film or skin,
instead of a shell. In order to ascertain this point, I made some of our
men ashore watch one carefully, and mark the place and time of laying
her eggs. In less than twelve hours they found the eggs addled, and in
about twelve hours more they had young ones completely formed and alive.
Had we remained some time longer, I might have thoroughly satisfied
myself and others, respecting the quick production of tortoises; for I
am apt to credit the report of several of our men, who asserted that
having found eggs in the sand, and looked for them three days afterwards
in the same place, they then found nothing but films; which shews that
the young ones are hatched in that time. They assured me also that they
had seen the young brood run out of the sand every day, making directly
in great numbers for the sea.
There were few fish about the shores of this island, these being of the
ordinary sorts usually met with in these seas; but the abundance of
turtle at this time amply made up for this defect. The chief officers
fed here deliciously, being scarcely ever without hares, turtle-doves,
pigeons, and parrots of various colours and sizes, many of which had
white or red heads, with tufts of feathers on their crowns.
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