The Audubon Reader (51 page)

I hope and trust this may reach you and that you will see the utility of what I say. Your funds are not accumulating, see what a loss through the agent in Philadelphia and I pray you may find
that 900
the whole of it. Do come home and put us all at ease, I assure you I regret more every day that I did not go straight down and resume my labor in the South; but now I wait most anxiously your replies, or your presence. How you can think of remaining in the South so late I cannot conceive, when you reflect that you have been in Europe so long and the South never agreed with you. I may write warmly but I feel so for you—for us all four. I have not heard from [Robert] Havell since January; the letters are continually coming from England from other people and I keep waiting. But oh do come away come away!

Victor is gone to Shawnee Town on business, John is at his counting room, on Friday last he was in bed with fever. Think of us, of yourself, and do come home. I heard from [Senator Edward] Everett a day or two ago and he hopes the bill for the admission of your work free of duty will become law. Mr. Berthoud has lost his youngest child of the croup, and some pecuniary losses also will not add to their personal comfort. Take care of everybody, I say, you are too good for the generality of mankind. Think of our dear sons, who are every way worthy of your kindness. If you
cannot
come up, or if you can write your plans, your wishes,
decidedly
, do so and promptly they will be obeyed, depend upon it, by your most affectionate sons and your true friend, adviser and affectionate wife,

Lucy Audubon

The Tortugas are a group of islands lying about eighty miles from Key West and the last of those that seem to defend the peninsula of the Floridas. They consist of five or six extremely low uninhabitable banks formed of shelly sand, and are resorted to principally by that class of men called wreckers and turtlers. Between these islands are deep channels which, although extremely intricate, are well known to those adventurers as well as to the commanders of the revenue cutters whose duties call them to that dangerous coast. The great
coral reef or wall lies about eight miles from these inhospitable isles in the direction of the Gulf, and on it many an ignorant or careless navigator has suffered shipwreck. The whole ground around them is densely covered with corals, sea-fans and other productions of the deep, amid which crawl innumerable crustaceous animals, while shoals of curious and beautiful fishes fill the limpid waters above them. Turtles of different species resort to these banks to deposit their eggs in the burning sand and clouds of sea fowl arrive every spring for the same purpose. These are followed by persons called
“Eggers” who, when their cargoes are completed, sail to distant markets to exchange their ill-gotten ware for a portion of that gold on the acquisition of which all men seem bent.

The
Marion
having occasion to visit the Tortugas, I gladly embraced the opportunity of seeing those celebrated islets. A few hours before
sunset the joyful cry of “land” announced our approach to them, but as the breeze was fresh and the pilot was well acquainted with all the windings of the channels we held on and dropped anchor before twilight. If you have never seen the sun setting in those latitudes, I would recommend to you to make a
voyage for the purpose, for I much doubt if in any other portion of the world the departure of the orb of day is accompanied with such gorgeous appearances. Look at the great red disk increased to triple its ordinary dimensions! Now it has partially sunk beneath the distant line of waters, and with its still remaining half irradiates the whole heavens with a flood of golden light, purpling the far-off clouds that hover over the wes
tern horizon. A blaze of refulgent glory streams through the portals of the west and the masses of vapor assume the semblance of mountains of molten gold. But the sun has now disappeared and from the east slowly advances the grey curtain which night draws over the world.

The
Nighthawk is flapping its noiseless wings in the gentle sea breeze; the Terns, safely landed, have settled on their nests; the
Frigate Pelicans are seen wending their way to distant mangroves; and the
Brown Gannet, in search of a resting-place, has perched on the yard of the vessel. Slowly advancing landward, their heads alone above the water, are observed the heavily-laden
turtles, anxious to deposit their eggs in the well-known sands. On the surface of the gently rippling stream I dimly see their broad forms as they toil along, while at intervals may be heard their hurried breathings, indicative of suspicion and fear. The moon with her silvery light now illumines the scene, and the turtle having landed, slowly and laboriously drags her heavy body over the sand, her “flappers” being better adapted for motion in the water than on shore. Up the slope, however, she works her way, and see how industriously she removes the sand beneath her, casting it out on either side. Layer after layer she deposits her eggs, arranging them in the most careful manner and with her hind-paddles brings the sand over them. The business is accomplished, the spot is covered over and with a joyful heart the turtle swiftly retires towards the shore and launches into the deep.

But the Tortugas are not the only breeding places of the turtles; these animals on the contrary frequent many other Keys as well as various parts of the coast of the mainland. There are four different species which are known by the names of the
green
turtle, the
hawk-billed
turtle, the
loggerhead
turtle and the
trunk
turtle. The first is considered the best as an article of food, in which capacity it is well known to most epicures. It approaches the shores and enters the
bays, inlets and rivers early in the month of April after having spent the winter in the deep waters. It deposits its eggs in convenient places at two different times in May and once again in June. The first deposit is the largest and the last the least, the total quantity being at an average about two hundred and forty. The hawk-billed turtle, whose shell is so valuable as an article of commerce, being used for various purposes in the arts, is the next with respect to the quality of its flesh. It resorts to the outer Keys only, where it deposits its eggs in two sets, first in July and again in August, although it “crawls” the beaches of these Keys much earlier in the season as if to look for a safe place. The average number of its eggs is about three hundred. The loggerhead visits the Tortugas in April and lays from that period until late in June three sets of eggs, each set averaging a hundred and seventy. The
trunk turtle, which is sometimes of an enormous size and which has a pouch like a pelican, reaches the shores latest. The shell and flesh are so soft that one may push his finger into them almost as into a lump of butter. This species is therefore considered as the least valuable and indeed is seldom eaten unless by the
Indians who, ever alert when the turtle season commences, first carry off the eggs and afterwards catch the turtles themselves. The average number of eggs which it lays in the season, in two sets, may be three hundred and fifty.

The loggerhead and the trunk turtles are the least cautious in choosing the places in which to deposit their eggs, whereas the two other species select the wildest and most secluded spots. The green turtle resorts either to the shores of the Main between Cape Sable and Cape Florida or enters Indian, Halifax and other large rivers or inlets from which it makes its retreat as speedily as possible and betakes itself to the open sea. Great numbers, however, are killed by the
turtlers and Indians as well as by various species of carnivorous animals, as cougars, lynxes, bears and wolves. The hawk-bill, which is still more wary and is always the most difficult to surprise, keeps to the sea islands. All the species employ nearly the same method in depositing their eggs in the sand, and as I have several times observed them in the act, I am enabled to present you with a circumstantial account of it.

On first nearing the shores, and mostly on fine calm moonlight nights, the turtle raises her head above the water, being still
distant thirty or forty yards from the beach, looks around her and attentively examines the objects on the shore. Should she observe nothing likely to disturb her intended operations she emits a loud hissing sound, by which such of her many enemies as are unaccustomed to it are startled and so are apt to remove to another place, although unseen by her. Should she hear any noise or perceive indications of danger, she instantly sinks and goes off to a considerable distance; but should everything be quiet she advances slowly towards the beach, crawls over it, her head raised to the full stretch of her neck, and when she has reached a place fitted for her purpose she gazes all round in silence. Finding “all well,” she proceeds to form a hole in the sand which she effects by removing it from
under
her body with her
hind
flappers, scooping it out with so much dexterity that the sides seldom if ever fall in. The sand is raised alternately with each flapper, as with a large ladle, until it has accumulated behind her, when supporting herself with her head and fore part on the ground fronting her body, she with a spring from each flapper sends the sand around her, scattering it to the distance of several feet. In this manner the hole is dug to the depth of eighteen inches or sometimes more than two feet. This labor I have seen performed in the short period of nine minutes. The eggs are then dropped one by one and disposed in regular layers to the number of a hundred and fifty or sometimes nearly two hundred. The whole time spent in this part of the operation may be about twenty minutes. She now scrapes the loose sand back over the eggs and so levels and smoothes the surface that few persons on seeing the spot could imagine anything had been done to it. This accomplished to her mind she retreats to the water with all possible dispatch, leaving the hatching of the eggs to the heat of the sand. When a turtle, a loggerhead for example, is in the act of dropping her eggs, she will not move although one should go up to her or even seat himself on her back, for it seems that at this moment she finds it necessary to proceed at all events and is unable to intermit her labor. The moment it is finished, however, off she starts; nor would it then be possible for one, unless he were as strong as a Hercules, to turn her over and secure her.

To upset a turtle on the shore, one is obliged to fall on his knees and, placing his shoulder behind her forearm, gradually raise her
up by pushing with great force and then with a jerk throw her over. Sometimes it requires the united strength of several men to accomplish this; and if the turtle should be of very great size, as often happens on that coast, even hand spikes are employed. Some
turtlers are so daring as to swim up to them while lying asleep on the surface of the water and turn them over in their own element when, however, a boat must be at hand to enable them to secure their prize. Few turtles can bite beyond the reach of their forelegs and few, when once turned over, can without assistance regain their natural position; but notwithstanding this, their flappers are generally secured by ropes so as to render their escape impossible.

Persons who search for turtles’ eggs are provided with a light stiff cane or a gun rod with which they go along the shores probing the sand near the tracks of the animals which, however, cannot always be seen on account of the winds and heavy rains, that often obliterate them. The
nests are discovered not only by men but also by beasts of prey and the eggs are collected or destroyed on the spot in great numbers, as on certain parts of the shores hundreds of turtles are known to deposit their eggs within the space of a mile. They form a new hole each time they lay and the second is generally dug near the first, as if the animal were quite unconscious of what had befallen it. It will readily be understood that the numerous eggs seen in a turtle on cutting it up could not be all laid the same season. The whole number deposited by an individual in one summer may amount to four hundred, whereas if the animal is caught on or near her nest, as I have witnessed, the remaining eggs, all small, without shells, and as it were threaded like so many large beads, exceed three thousand. In an instance where I found that number the turtle weighed nearly four hundred pounds. The
young, soon after being hatched and when yet scarcely larger than a dollar, scratch their way through their sandy covering and immediately betake themselves to the water.

The
food of the green turtle consists chiefly of marine plants, more especially the grasswrack, which they cut near the roots to procure the most tender and succulent parts. Their feeding grounds … are easily discovered by floating masses of these plants on the flats or along the shores to which they resort. The hawk-billed species feeds on seaweeds, crabs, various kinds of shellfish
and fishes; the loggerhead mostly on the meat of conch shells of large size, which they are enabled by means of their powerful beak to crush to pieces with apparently as much ease as a man cracks a walnut. One which was brought on board the
Marion
and placed near the fluke of one of her anchors made a deep indentation in that hammered piece of iron that quite surprised me. The trunk turtle feeds on mollusks, fish, crustaceans, sea urchins and various marine plants.

All the species move through the water with surprising
speed; but the green and hawk-billed in particular remind you by their celerity and the ease of their motions of the progress of a bird in the air. It is therefore no easy matter to strike one with a spear, and yet this is often done by an accomplished
turtler.