240 POPULAR SCRIPTURE ZOOLOGY.

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 bows
at this moment dashes through the water upon the turtle’s
back; then clinging with both hands by the shell of the
neck, he is carried away till the animal becomes exhausted,
and is secured. It was quite an interesting chase to see the
two boats thus doubling about, and the men dashing into
the water, trying to seize their prey.”

The Imbricated or Hawksbill Turtle (Chelonia imbricata)
is a native of the Asiatic and American seas, and is occa-
sionally found in the Mediterranean. It measures. about
three feet in a general way, though specimens have been
seen twice that size: the flesh is held in no estimation, but
the plates of the shell are stronger, thicker, and clearer than
in any other kind, and afford the valuable substance called
tortoise-shell: the best is brought from the shores of the

Spice Islands and New Guinea.

The female turtle deposits her eggs in the sand, on the
shores of the sea and banks of rivers; there she hollows out
a strong vaulted nest, thus giving the eggs (which amount
to a hundred) the full benefit of the sun. The shell is
solid, and the form nearly globular.