Turtle

“ The female turtle deposits her eggs in holes on the sand, and covering them up leaves them to be hatched by the heat of the sun, which brings forth the little turtles, which grow in time to be as large as a buckler or great target. In these islands they also saw crows and cranes like those of Spain, and sea crows, and infinite numbers of small birds which sung delightfully, and the very air was sweet, as if they had been among roses and the finest perfumes ”

“ A turtle, waddling his solitary way along some watercourse, attracts little attention apart from that aroused by his clumsy, grotesque shape; yet few who look upon him are able to give offhand even a bare half-dozen facts about the humble creature. ”

“ In a few moments, a small turtle appeared in sight, plodding leisurely along and drawing behind him the cart I had seen, which was very small and light.
I was assured by my little neighbor that the turtle liked the business very much; but, belonging to the S. P. C. A., I felt obliged to know the facts. I found that the turtle had his liberty nearly all the time, and a pond of water specially for his use; and that, when the haying season should end, he would be turned out to pasture in his native bog for the rest of the year. ”

“ The noise of their snoring betrays them, upon which the fishermen stealthily swim towards the animals, three to each turtle; two of them, in a moment, throw it on its back, while a third slings a noose around it, as it lies face upwards, and then more men who are ready on shore, draw it to land. ”

“ The water was so clear and shallow, that although at first a turtle quickly dives out of sight, yet in a canoe or boat under sail, the pursuers after no very long chase come up to it. A man standing ready in the bow, at this moment dashes through the water upon the turtle's back; then clinging with both hands by the shell of its neck, he is carried away till the animal becomes exhausted and is secured. ”

“ The people go along the shore at night with lanterns and other lights, seeking the tracks which the turtle leaves in the sand, which they follow till they find the animal, which being tired with the exertion, sleeps so soundly as not to waken on their approach. Having found a turtle it is turned on its back, and without doing any more harm they go on to seek more, which are treated in the same manner. ”

“ A snapping turtle will lie quietly at the bottom of a pond or lake, looking like an old water-soaked log with a branch—its head and neck—at one end. From the tip of the tongue the creature extrudes two small filaments of a pinkish colour which wriggle about, bearing a perfect resemblance to the small round worms of which fishes are so fond. Attracted by these, fishes swim up to grasp the squirming objects and are engulfed by the cruel mouth of the angler. Certain marine turtles have 123 long-fringed appendages on the head and neck, which, waving about, serve a similar purpose. ”

“ The latter, having jumped away a short distance, cocked his ears, and looked over his back to see who was approaching. Perceiving the turtle, he went over and accosted him with, “What are you doing away up here, sir?”
“I simply came up for a view. I have always heard that the view over the water from your hills was excellent, but I can’t say it pays one for the trouble of coming up,” and the turtle wiped off his long neck and stretched himself out to cool off in the air.
“You are not high enough; just come with me if you want to see a view,” and the rabbit straightened up as if to start. ”

“ Shells and bones of turtle, some of them fresh, were plentifully scattered around; upon the beach also there were turtle tracks, and several of these animals were seen in the water during the day; but it was not our fortune to take one of them. ”

“ She kissed it immediately, and the turtle reviving, said, I thank you for what you have done, and now I will do something for you. When you come to the rock, instead of attempting to climb it, stay at the bottom, and pretend to be asleep; when the green bird sees me, he will come from the rock to peck me, and then you must take the advantage and catch him. She did so, and by the direction of the turtle took a red feather out of the green bird's wing, and touching the rock with it three times, the enchantment was broke, and her brothers with many others set free. ”

“ When a shoal of them were seen floating asleep upon the surface of the ocean, a good swimmer would plunge in a few fathoms deep, and rising, seize the turtle towards the tail, and endeavour to force it down. ”

“ The turtle-fishers go out in the boat to a spot frequented by grazing turtles; a long string is tied to the tail of a fish, Echeneis, a member of the Mackerel family, and the Echeneis, anxious to get away to protective shelter, makes for a turtle, and attaches itself to the turtle's plastron by means of the large sucking apparatus on the top of its head and neck-region. The men are guided by the string, and the turtle is gently coaxed up towards the surface or followed into shallow water, where it is either harpooned or dived for. ”

“ The turtle is, as we have said, an exceedingly beautiful and handsome bird, the breast of a delicate vinaceous tint, and a black patch on either side of the neck, each feather of which is tipped with a crescent of pure white, giving it a very elegant and striking appearance. ”

“ When therefore next day he found in his net a huge turtle, he said to himself, “Well, my fine fellow, what a pity it is that you are not eatable! You would make a good meal for my honorable parents were you as good as you are big. But since you are not, run along home to your friends,” and he dropped the turtle back into the waves. ”

“ The turtle generally crawls up about ten rods from the sea-shore on the soft beach-sand, making a large track with its flippers, and digging a hole in the sand about two feet deep, lays forty eggs, and returns to the sea again the same night. ”

“ They're snapping turtles, really, and they grow bigger than these common ones; but they're so handsome and hard to find we call them princes. Their shells are gray on top and smooth and polished, like satin; and then, underneath, oh, they're beautiful; sometimes plain ivory, and sometimes bright red; and they have lovely yellow and black splashes where the lower shell joins the upper. I wish you could see a baby turtle, Gladys. ”

“ The turtle is a four-legged reptile, with a short, stout, oval-shaped body, encased in a bony frame or box, from which the animal is able to protrude its head, legs, and tail, and into which it can withdraw them at pleasure. In different varieties of turtle, the size and shape of the box-like covering varies. ”

“ A reason for this is found in the amphibious character of the turtle, which renders it equally at home on land and in the water, and in its peculiar shape, which was held to be typical of the world, the world itself being conceived as a huge turtle swimming in a limitless ocean, the dome of the sky being its upper shell, and the flat surface of the earth being the bony breastplate of the animal, while inclosed between them was the living body, the human, animal, and vegetal creation. ”

“ To upset a Turtle on the shore, one is obliged to fall on his knees, and placing his shoulder behind her fore-arm, gradually raise her up by pushing with great force, and then with a jerk throw her over. Sometimes it requires the united strength of several men to accomplish this; and, if the Turtle should be of very great size, as often happens on that coast, even handspikes are employed. ”

“ The turtle hides, but the lizard runs and is pursued by the man. The turtle enters the house and hides under a coconut shell. When the man sits on the shell the turtle calls. He cannot discover source of noise and thinks it comes from his testicles. He strikes these with a stone and dies. The turtle and the lizard see a bees' nest. The lizard hastens to get it and is stung. They see a bird snare and turtle claims it as the necklace of his father. Lizard runs to get it but is caught and killed.
79 A little bird calls many times for a boy to catch it. ”

“ I would like to tell Jessie B., whose letter was in No. 33, that she must put her turtle in water deep enough to half cover it; and when she feeds it, she must put one end of the worm in the water, and whenever the turtle snaps for it, she must lift it up, until, after a while, the turtle will take it from her hand. ”

“ When a turtle is surprised he does not express it by throwing himself backward head uppermost on to his tail, and show his white waistcoat, and wave his arms in depreciation of the interview, but he downs with his head and ups with his heels and the tip of his tail, if you are able to recognise it, is the last you see of Master Turtle. ”

“ The principal difference between tortoise and turtle is the shape of the paws, which in the land varieties are always armed with claws, and have a strong likeness to the legs of a lizard. In the turtles these clawed feet become flippers, almost fins, wonderfully adapted for swimming purposes, but rendering the turtle when on land more helpless and clumsy in his locomotion than even a seal. ”

“ As soon as the Turtle is struck, the wooden handle separates from the peg, in consequence of the looseness of its attachment. The smart of the wound urges on the animal as if distracted, and it appears that the longer the peg remains in its shell, the more firmly fastened it is, so great a pressure is exercised upon it by the shell of the Turtle, which, being suffered to run like a whale, soon becomes fatigued, and is secured by hauling in the line with great care. In this manner, as the pilot informed me, eight hundred Green Turtles were caught by one man in twelve months. ”

“ The sea at this place furnished us with turtle in the greatest plenty and perfection. The green turtle is generally esteemed, by the greatest part of those who are acquainted with its taste, to be the most delicious of all eatables; and that it is a most wholesome food we are amply convinced by our own experience. ”

“ There are several kinds of turtles, or sea tortoises, but we account the green turtle the best meat. When they want to lay their eggs, they go on shore in some sandy bay, where they make a hole in the sand with their fins, two feet and a half deep, in which one turtle will deposit from eighty to ninety eggs, which they cover over with the sand, leaving them to hatch by the heat of the sun. They lay in this manner two or three times every year, and go immediately off to sea, leaving their young when hatched to shift for themselves ”

“ Milton grabbed it and tried to bite it; but he could not set his teeth through it, because the turtle has over its belly the same sort of crust as over its back, with mere openings in front, on the side, and at the back for putting out its head, legs, and tail.
I rescued the turtle from Milton, and examined how its back was marked, and how its shell was constructed, and how it managed to hide itself away. When you hold one in your hands and look under the shell, then, only, can you see something within, black and living. ”

“ The Turtles.—This group embraces the sea-turtles, having the fore limbs developed as long, flat, triangular flippers, with large head, small under shell, and with head and flippers non-retractile,—the terrapins, soft-shelled turtles, and tortoises. Of the large, sea-going species, our ocean waters produce the huge leather-back or harp-turtle, the loggerhead, next in size, the green turtle and the hawksbill, which last yields the valuable tortoise-shell of commerce. To the taxidermist, a fresh hawksbill to be mounted is a thing of beauty and a joy forever ”

“ The name of the turtle, תּוּד, redupl. turtur, is a pure onomatopoeia, which has nothing to do with תּוּר, whence דּוּר, to go round about, or to move in a circle; and turtle-dove's cheeks - what absurdity! Birds have no cheeks; and on the sides of its neck the turtle-dove has black and white variegated feathers, which also furnishes no comparison for the colour of the cheeks. תּורים are the round ornaments which hang down in front on both sides of the head-band, or are also inwoven in the braids of hair in the forehead; תּוּר, circumire, signifies also to form a circle or a row; in Aram. ”

“ Active enough in the water, the turtle is a slow heavy mover on land. Laboriously she pushes herself along with her short flappers until she finds a place which satisfies her meticulous, maternal instinct. ”

“ The turtle is found in connection with two sun (kin) signs beneath a constellation band in Tro-Cortesianus 71a. Resting upon his body are three Cauac signs. The single representation of the turtle in the Dresden Codex is on page 49 (Pl. 14, fig. 12) where a god is pictured with a turtle’s head. The heavy sharp beak indicates that he represents one of the sea turtles previously mentioned. ”

“ The day following, they dragged them to the most distant part of the island, where they “shelled” them;—a cruel process, which it made my flesh creep to witness. Before describing it, however, I must explain that, although the habits of all varieties of the turtle are much the same, yet their uses are very different. The large, green turtle is best known; it frequently reaches our markets, and its flesh is esteemed, by epicures, as a great delicacy. [47] The flesh of the smaller or hawk-bill variety is not so good, but its shell is most valuable, being both thicker and better-colored. ”