The
Flesh Of This Kind Is But Indifferent, Yet Better Than That Of The
Loggerheads; Though These, Which Are Taken Between The Sambellos And
Portobello, Make Those Who Eat The Flesh Purge And Vomit Excessively,
And The Same Is Observed Of Some Other Fish In The West Indies.
The laying time of the sea-tortoises is about May, June, and July, a
little sooner or later, and
They lay three times each season, eighty or
ninety eggs each time, which are round and as large as an hen's egg, but
covered only with a thin white skin, having no shell. When a tortoise
goes on shore to lay, she is usually an hour before she returns, as she
always chuses her place above high-water mark, where she makes a large
hole with her fins in the sand, in which she lays her eggs, and then
covers them two feet deep with the sand she had raked out. Sometimes
they go on shore the day before, to take a look of the place, and are
sure to return to the same spot next day. People take the tortoises on
this occasion, while on shore in the night, turning them over on their
backs, above high-water mark, and then return to fetch them off next
morning; but a large Green tortoise will give work enough to two stout
men to turn her over. The Green tortoise gets its name from the colour
of the shell, having a small round head, and weighs from 200 to 300
pounds.
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