This “specimen,” as the naturalists would say, proved to be of the smaller, or hawk-bill variety, the flesh of which is inferior to that of the green turtle, although hawk-bills are most valuable on account of their shells. So we paddled off again, keeping close to the cays and reefs, where the water is shallow. It was nearly dark before Harris got a chance at another turtle, which he struck on the bottom, at least eight feet below the surface. This was of the green variety; he was lifted in the boat, and his head unceremoniously chopped off, lest he should take a spiteful nip at the hams of the paddlers.
We wound our way back to the rendezvous, picking up our hawk-bill, who was that night unmercifully put through the cruel process, which I have already had occasion to describe, for separating the scales from the shell, after which he was permitted to take himself off. I may here mention, that besides the two varieties of turtle which I have named, there is another and larger kind, called the loggerhead turtle (Testudo Caretta), which resembles the green turtle, but is distinguished by the superior size of the head, greater breadth of shell, and by its deeper and more variegated colors. It grows to be of great size, sometimes reaching one thousand or twelve hundred pounds; but its flesh is rank and coarse, and the laminæ of its shell too thin for use. It, nevertheless, supplies a good oil, proper for a variety of purposes.
That evening, we had turtle steaks, and turtle eggs, roasted turtle flippers, and callipash and callipee (the two latter in the form of soup),—in fact, turtle in every form known to the Mosquito men, who well deserve the name of turtle-men. The turtle conceals its eggs in the sand, but the natives are ready to detect indications of a deposit, which they verify by thrusting in the sand the iron ramrod of a musket, an operation which they call “feeling for eggs.”
About midnight, it came on to rain heavily, and continued all the next day, so that nothing could be done. The time was “put in” talking turtle, and Harris got so warmed up as to promise to show me what the Mosquito men regard as the ne plus ultra of skill in turtle craft, namely, “jumping turtle.” He did not explain to me what this meant, but gave me a significant wag of the head, which is a Mosquito synonym for nous verrons.
The third day proved propitious, and Harris was successful in obtaining several fine turtles. About noon he laid aside his spear, and took his position, entirely naked, keeping up, nevertheless, his usual look-out. We were not long in getting on the track of a turtle. After a world of maneuvering, apparently with the object of driving him into shallow water, Harris made a sudden dive overboard. The water boiled and bubbled for a few moments, when he reappeared, holding a fine hawk-bill in his outstretched hands. And that feat proved to be what is called “jumping a turtle.” It often happens that bungling fishermen get badly bitten in these attempts, which are not without their dangers from the sharp coral rocks and spiny sea-eggs.
During the afternoon of the fourth day, we returned to the lagoon, taking with us eight green turtles, and about ninety pounds of fine shell. We found that most of the party which we had left had gone back to the village, whither Drummer and his “quarter-master” were urgent I should return with them. But Wasswatla had no further attractions for me, and I was firm in my purpose of proceeding straightway up the coast.
With many last turns at the grog, I parted—not without regret—with Drummer and Harris, giving them each a gaudy silk handkerchief, in acknowledgment of two fine turtles which they insisted on my accepting. Harris also gave me his turtle-spear, and was much exalted when I told him that I should have it engraved with his name, and hung up in my watla (house) at home.
Pearl-Cay Lagoon is upward of forty miles long, by, perhaps, ten miles wide at its broadest part. There are three or four settlements upon it, the principal of which are called Kirka, and English Bank. I did not visit any of these, but took my course direct for the upper end of the lagoon, where, as the chain of salt lakes is here interrupted for a considerable distance, there is another haulover from the lagoon to the sea. I saw several collections of huts on the western shore, and on a small island, where we stopped during the midday heats, I gathered a few stalks of the jiquilite (Indigofera disperma), or indigenous indigo-plant, which may be ranked as one of the prospective sources of wealth on the coast.
We arrived at the haulover in the midst of a drenching thunder-storm, which lasted into the night. It was impossible to light a fire, and so we drew up the canoe on the beach, and, piling our traps in the centre, I perched myself on the top, where, with the sail thrown over my head, I enacted the part of a tent-pole for the live-long night! My Indian companions stripped themselves naked, rubbed their bodies with palm oil, and took the pelting with all the nonchalance of ducks. For want of any thing better to do, I ate plantains and dried fish, and, after the rain subsided, watched the brilliant fire-flies, of which hundreds moved about lazily under the lee of the bushes. The atmosphere, after the storm had subsided, was murky and sultry, making respiration difficult, and inducing a sense of extreme lassitude and fatigue. Every thing was damp and sticky, and so saturated with water, that it was impossible for me to lie down. I applied to my Jamaica for comfort, but, in spite of it, relapsed into a fit of glums, or “blue-devils.” To add to my discomfort, innumerable sand-flies came out, and, soon after, a cloud of mosquitos, while a forest-full of some kind of tree-toad struck up a doleful piping, which proved too much for even my tried equanimity. I got up, and strode back and forth on the narrow sand-beach, in a vehement and intemperate manner, wishing myself in New York, any where, even in Jamaica! The remembrance of my first night on the shores of the lagoon only served to make me feel the more wretched, and I longed to have “some gentleman do me the favor to thread on the tail of me coat!”