ould find as many turtles' eggs as they wished for, although to
Barney and Martin there seemed to be nothing on the bank at all. The
freshwater turtle of the Amazon, of which there are various species, is
one of the most useful of reptiles. Its flesh supplies abundance of
good food; and the eggs, besides being eaten, afford an excellent oil.
The largest species grow to the length of three feet, and have a
flattish oval shell of a dark colour, and quite smooth. Turtles lay
their eggs about the beginning of September, when the sand-banks begin
to be uncovered. They scrape deep holes for them, and cover them
carefully over, beating down the sand quite flat, and walking across the
place several times, for the purpose of concealment. The eggs are then
left to be hatched by the heat of the sun. But alas for the poor
turtles, men are too clever for them. The eggs are collected by the
natives in thousands, and, when oil is to be made of them, they are
thrown into a canoe, smashed and mixed up together, and left to stand,
when the oil rises to the top, and is skimmed off and boiled. It keeps
well, and is used both for lamps and cooking. Very few of the millions
of eggs that are annually laid arrive at maturity.

When the young turtles issue forth and run to the water, there are many
enemies watching for them. Great alligators open their jaws and swallow
them by hundreds; jaguars come out of the forests and feed upon them;
eagles and buzzards and wood-ibises are there, too, to claim their share
of the feast; and, if they are fortunate enough to escape all these,
there are many large and ravenous fishes ready to seize them in the
stream. It seems a marvel that any escape at all.

In a few minutes the old trader scraped up about a hundred eggs, to the
immense satisfaction of Martin and Barney. Then he took a bow and arrow
from the bottom of the montaria, and shot a large turtle in the water,
while his companions kindled a fire, intending to dine.

Only the nose of the turtle was visible above water; but the old man was
so expert in the use of the bow, that he succeeded in transfixing the
soft part of the animal's neck with an arrow, although that part was
under water. It was a large turtle, and very fat and heavy, so that it
was with difficulty the trader lifted it upon his old shoulders and bore
it in triumph to the spot where his companions were busily engaged with
their cooking operations. Turtles are frequently s