layed it. We now sat quietly waiting until the turtle should be
compelled to rise to the surface to breathe. About twenty minutes
passed, when, as it came up, the skipper hurled another weapon into its
body. Now began the tug of war. The turtle went rushing backwards and
forwards, sometimes sinking, sometimes rising, the skipper taking care
to keep the line over the bows, for had it slipped to the side, we
should have been capsized in a moment so tremendous were the jerks the
creature gave.

For nearly an hour the struggle continued, until the turtle gave in,
when, passing a rope round one of its flippers to prevent its sinking,
we towed it alongside the schooner. The turtle, however, was not dead.
As we hoisted it on board, by means of the windlass and a couple of
tackles fastened to a rope secured round its flippers, its huge jaws,
large enough to bite a man in two, opened and shut, biting furiously at
everything near it. We calculated that the monster weighed fully six
hundred pounds.

We afterwards killed a hawks-bill turtle and two small green turtles,
the flesh of which was kept for the cabin table. The meat was preserved
by being cut up into slices and hung in the rigging to dry in the sun.
After this we had turtle-soup, and turtle-steaks, and turtle-hash, until
we agreed that we should infinitely prefer some slices of mutton.

It was extraordinary to observe what tenacity of life was exhibited by
the turtles. For some time after the head was cut off it would snap at
everything near it. Even the tail wriggled about after it was severed
from the body. Captain Crump gravely asserted that, cut up a turtle as
we might, it would not die until the moon rose. No doubt the heads
still retained their muscular power until nightfall.

While in search of turtle, we pulled over a coral reef, where the water
was so clear that we could see to the very bottom; and beautiful indeed
was the spectacle we beheld. From the rocks grew sea-weeds of the most
brilliant colours,--the peacock's tail, sea-fan, and other lovely forms,
hanging in wreaths round the holes; while shells of every variety
covered the surface of the rocks, amid which appeared sponges, sea-eggs
with long spines, and sea-anemones. Hither and thither darted fish of
every size and hue, from huge sharks to green, red, and gold fish of the
size of minnows. On the shore of an island where we landed we found an
enormous number of shells of the most brillia