The curiosities of food

by P. L. Simmonds

‘In the hot weather of January, February, March, and April, the females land at night, and waddling over the sands in the various bays of the island, far above high-water mark,—for by a pole in the ponds, the tide only rises here four feet,—they scrape up, by alternate scoops of their flippers, a hole deep enough to cover their bodies. Into this they get, sighing heavily, and deposit from 150 to 200 eggs, cover them up, leaving them to the sun to hatch; and then waddle again towards the sea. Two stout hands are, meanwhile, on the look out, watching the movements of the unfortunate turtle; and, running up to her after the completion of her task, one seizes a fore flipper and dexterously shoves it under her belly to serve as a purchase; whilst the other, avoiding a stroke which might lame him, cants the turtle over on her back, where she lies helpless. From fifteen to thirty are thus turned in a night; and 600 had been so captured in the season of 1834.

‘In the bays, when the surf of heavy rollers prevents the boats being beached to take on board the turtle when caught, they are hauled out to them by ropes.

‘No ships’ crews are now allowed to turn turtle, which is converted into a government monopoly; and £2 10s. is the fixed price for each. Strange to say, from the time that the young turtle, the size of a dollar, are observed scuttling down to the water, they are never seen again here until they are four or five hundred pounds weight; and how long they take to attain this great size, and where they spend the intermediate time, is as yet a mystery. I was surprised to hear that turtle are kept in the ponds for a year and upwards without a morsel of food of any kind. They sometimes deposit their eggs in the sand, on the sides of the ponds; and in due time the little animals are allowed to make their escape to the sea.

‘One old female called ‘Nelson,’ because one of her flippers had been carried off by a shark, was kept, out of respect, for two or three years in the ponds. She contrived, however, one night to crawl round the enclosure and make her escape; but she was turned next year in Clarence Bay. Another turtle was also turned there a short time since, on the back of which was carved the name of a mate of a British vessel, who had bought it and sailed with it three weeks before; it is probable that, imagining it to be dead, he had thrown it overboard.

‘The best way to send home turtle from Ascension is, to head them up in a sealed cask, and have the water changed daily by the bung hole and a cork. Turtle, though the extremes of heat and cold are equally injurious to them, should always arrive in hot weather in England. Thus, an unfortunate captain, on one occasion, took from Ascension 200 turtle, and timing his arrival badly, brought only four alive to Bristol!’

Humboldt, in his Personal Narrative, speaks of the expertness of the jaguars of South America, who turn the turtle on the beach and devour them at their ease, emptying the double armour of the arraus, by the introduction of their supple paws, with greater ingenuity than the most skilful naturalist could do. They also eat the eggs.

The eggs are of a globular shape, with a soft semi-transparent calcareous shell. These are much prized whenever they can be procured as articles of food, both by natives and Europeans. A native will consume in Brazil as many as twenty or thirty eggs at one meal, and an European sometimes eats a dozen for breakfast.

Scarcely a thirtieth of the number of young turtles, even if the eggs are all hatched, reach the sea, or live after they have gained that element. Birds, and beasts, and alligators, and rapacious fishes, all prey upon them.

The flesh of the female is held in the greatest estimation, and it is considered to be in perfection at the time she is about depositing her eggs. The flesh, the eggs, and certain portions of the intestines, are often salted and barrelled for shipment to a distance. The eggs of the turtle, although oily, are very savory, and make an excellent omelet. The shell does not harden, but is leathery; and the white never coagulates, but is thrown away and the yolk only eaten. The Indians of Brazil frequently eat the eggs raw, mixed with their cassava farinha.

Captain William Dampier, in his voyages, tells us, the flesh of the hawk’s-bill turtle is eaten. ‘The flesh’ (he remarks) ‘is but indifferent, yet somewhat better than that of the loggerhead. Those taken betwixt the Sambellas and Portobello, make those that eat their flesh vomit and purge vehemently. The flesh however differs according to their food, for those that feed upon moss among the rocks have a much yellower fat and flesh, and are not so well tasted as those that feed upon grass.’