"When," he said, "you come
close up, you look out. Hello! You think about stone. No stone;
altogether turtle!"
There, to within a recent date, might be seen the bones of fourteen
great green turtle side by side in a row. At first glance the scene
seems a sanctified death-place for the species, until you are informed
that a visitor to the isle, astonished at the number of turtle on the
beach, and eager to secure an abundance of fresh meat, turned over
fourteen, intending to call again for them. Circumstances prevented him
from re-visiting the place, and the turtle, being unable to right
themselves, perished.
Personal observation and inquiries from many men whose lives may be said
to be spent among turtle on the Barrier Reef convince me that blacks
never venture to get astride a turtle in the water. One more daring and
agile may seize a turtle, and by throwing his weight aft cause the head
to tilt out of the water. The turtle then strikes out frantically with
its flippers, but the boy so counterbalances it that the head is kept
above the surface continuously, until the turtle becoming exhausted is
guided into shallow water or alongside a boat, where it is secured with
the help of others.
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