Читать книгу Some Curious Flyers, Creepers, and Swimmers - Celia Thaxter - Страница 9
ОглавлениеOUR SLOW-FOOTED NEIGHBORS.
1. In the country, every school-boy knows the turtle, and very likely has made a pet of it. It is so curious in its shape and ways, and so different from other animals, that every one found is taken home as a valuable prize. The captor's interest is excited in examining the shell with its curious markings, the openings upon the sides between the upper and lower plates for the head, tail, and four legs, and the valves which shut down over these openings when the limbs are pulled in. He finds the little fellow harmless, but if teased he may feel a sudden grip that is not pleasant to bear.
2. Turtles are found in great variety all over the world, and they vary in size from the little creature, which the boy carries in his pocket, to monsters weighing many hundred pounds. They are all slow of foot, and, as they can not run from danger, they draw themselves within their shells, and are safe from nearly every kind of foe. Few animals can do anything with a live turtle, and the hungry boa can manage it only by swallowing it whole, and, after digesting the softer parts, rejecting the shell.
3. In the tropical regions of South America turtles are found in incredible numbers. The following account is taken from the narrative of Father Gumilla, an early Spanish missionary to the upper Orinoco. In his travels Humboldt fully corroborates the story of the good father:
Mud-Tortoise, or Mud-Turtle.
4. "So great is the number of turtles in the Orinoco River, that whatever I may say on this subject will fall far short of the actual truth; and I even fear that many, in reading my authentic account of what I myself have seen, experienced, and touched with my own hands, will accuse me of exaggeration; but it is a fact that it would be as difficult to count the sands of the banks of the Orinoco, as to compute the number of turtles which it harbors on its borders and in the depths of its currents.
5. "Some idea may be formed of the enormous consumption of these creatures, when we say that all the tribes from adjacent countries, and even from those farther off, frequent the Orinoco with their families to secure the harvest of turtles; for they not only maintain themselves therewith during the months that it lasts, but also carry away a large supply of turtle-meat dried by the fire, and a still greater number of baskets of dried eggs. But what principally attracts these people is the oil which they gather from the eggs of the turtles, to anoint themselves twice a day throughout the year, and to sell to more remote tribes.
6. "As soon as the river begins to fall, and to display its first sand-banks, in the month of February, the turtles begin to show themselves, in order to deposit their eggs in the sand; those that appear first are the smaller turtles, called in Spanish terecayas, weighing about twenty-five pounds each; these lay twenty-four eggs, like hen's eggs, but without the shell, instead of which they are covered with two membranes, one tender and the other tough.
7. "Soon other turtles also appear, who in the previous year found no sand in which to deposit their eggs, or were prevented from so doing by the great number assembled there. These large turtles, weighing fifty pounds each, deposit sixty-two or sixty-four round eggs, larger than those of the terecayas, with stronger membrane, and with which the Indians play ball on shore, or egg each other in sport. In each nest there is one larger than the rest, from which the male is hatched; all the others are females.
Green Turtle.
8. "About this time the Indians begin to arrive. Some of them build straw huts; others content themselves by driving poles in the sand from which to swing hammocks. A multitude of tigers also appear, to feed upon turtles, which they devour in spite of their strong shell; a circumstance which by no means adds to the pleasure of the Indians, who have no other mode of keeping them off than by fires at night; but, in spite of all precautions, some Indians are devoured every year.
9. "Fearing the heat of the sun, which often kills them on the sand-banks, the turtles at first come out only at nightfall to lay their eggs; but, as the season advances, the gathering is so great, that the multitudes already out prevent the passage of still greater numbers, which, with their heads above water, are waiting a chance to pass on; and, so soon as an opportunity presents itself, they hasten to lay all their eggs at once—the burden of which they can not support without great inconvenience—regardless of the heat of the sun, which often costs many of them their lives.
10. "I have noticed three curious facts with reference to these turtle-visits. The first is that, after laying their eggs in holes which they dig for the purpose, they carefully cover them again, leaving the sand level as before. To prevent their tracks leading to the discovery, they tramp all around the nests, so that a large track looks all alike. But these precautions are vain, however, as against man, for the sand remains quite loose, and gives way under the foot, and by this means the eggs are found in the early part of the season; but in the height of the harvest there is no need of looking for signs, for in the same sand scores of turtles lay their eggs successively, and in such prodigious quantities that wherever the Indians may dig they find them in heaps, the animals themselves scattering them all over the ground while digging their own nests.
11. "The second fact which I have observed is that so great is the heat of the sun that the young turtles come out in about three days' time, and are then about the size of a half-dollar. The third point is that the young turtles, on coming out of their shells, do not leave their nests by daylight, instinct having taught them that the heat of the sun will kill them. They come forth, therefore, in the silence and cool of the night; and what excited my admiration is that, although the nest may be half a mile or more from the river, they never mistake the road, but go in a direct line to the water. I have often carried them to a great distance, and turned them about, but whenever they were free they made straight for the water.
12. "About this time the Indians, both men and women, rise very early, and the former turn over as many turtles as they please, leaving them on their backs in such a way as to render them incapable of resuming their natural position; for, although they strive with their paddles to right themselves, their backs are so high that they can not touch the ground in order to obtain a foothold. They are then carried to the ranches and left upon their backs. Meanwhile, the women and children occupy themselves in filling and carrying baskets of eggs and little turtles to the ranches, making large heaps of the former, and keeping the latter in baskets to prevent their escape to the river.
13. "The men dig holes in the sand, down to the level of the river, which are quickly filled with water, and place therein baby turtles to be eaten when wanted; each of which makes a delicious mouthful, free from bones, the very shells being soft and tasty. The number of young turtles eaten daily by these hundreds of families is incalculable. But the quantity of eggs consumed is even greater, both for food and for the extraction of oil; so great, indeed, that, notwithstanding the size of the Orinoco River, it is the opinion of those who have studied the matter that if it were not for this yearly destruction the river itself would soon be unfit for navigation, for the great numbers of turtles that would appear."
