A TURTLE SWIMMING.
CHAPTER VIII
THE LOGGERHEAD TURTLE
One of the favourite objects of the harpoon in those waters is the loggerhead turtle, and as the procedure differs in some respects from that followed in the pursuit of the unprofitable ray, I will attempt to give some account of the way in which amateurs spear their turtle. If you must catch your turtle before you cook him, you must as surely find one before you can spear him. Turtles are in the habit of coming up for a breather somewhere about slack water, and at such times they may be seen basking lazily at the surface.
A small and sharp harpoon is necessary to penetrate the turtle’s shell, and it is important to make this change in your equipment if you go from rays to turtles. All being ready, your guide paddles you as quietly as possible into the pass, and you must get in the way of standing motionless in the bow in a slight lop, for roughish weather is undoubtedly the best for turtle-spearing.
At length you see a great loggerhead some three hundred yards ahead on the port bow. The loggerhead turtle is the most common on this coast; the more delicate green turtle is the rarest; and between them in point of numbers comes the leathery species. It is most important, when you have sighted a turtle, to creep up as close and as quickly as possible, without making the slightest noise. You must even stand quite steady and crouch without kicking the boat, as the least disturbance may send the turtle to the bottom. The great thing is to restrain yourself from letting drive with the harpoon until the most favourable moment, and the most favourable moment is that at which you are closest to your quarry, so that it may feel the full force of the harpoon.
If, when you are within reach, the turtle shows signs of diving, in with the harpoon; otherwise, get a little nearer. Now put all your back into the cast, and the barbed point goes clipping through the shell. You think that it did not penetrate very far? Well, your instinct is probably correct, so it will be as well to fix another dart ready and, playing him gently the while, strike again the moment he comes up to breathe. He may remain beneath the surface fully twenty minutes, on the move the whole while, but he will soon want air after that time has elapsed. If you were sure of having struck the barb well home, the more usual course