Travels and adventures in South and Central America. First series / Life in the Llanos of Venezuela

by Ramón Páez

“Fearing the heat of the sun—which often kills them on the sand-banks—the turtles at first come out only at nightfall to lay their eggs; but, as the season advances, the gathering is so great, that the multitudes already out prevent the passage of still greater numbers, which, with heads above water, are waiting a chance to pass on; and so soon as an opportunity presents itself, they hasten to lay all their eggs at once—the burthen of which they cannot support without great inconvenience,—regardless of the sun and heat, which often costs many of them their lives.

“I have noticed three curious facts with reference to these turtle-nests: the first is, that after opening with the utmost care the holes in which these animals deposit their eggs, they take particular pains to close them again, so as not to leave a trace by which the nest may be found. For this purpose they leave the ground perfectly even with the rest of the sand-bank; and in order that the marks of their feet may not lead to their discovery, they pass over and around the nest several times in succession before they quit the ground. All their precautions are in vain, however, for wherever there are eggs, the sand remains quite loose, and gives way under foot; and by these means the eggs are found in the early part of the season; but later, in the height of the harvest, there is no need of looking for these signs; for, in the same sands in which the first turtles laid, the second, third, and scores of others also lay their eggs in such prodigious quantities, that wherever the Indians may dig, they find them in heaps, the animals themselves scattering them all over the ground while excavating their own nests.

“The second curious fact that I have observed, by driving a pole near to a newly-laid nest, is, that in three days’ time, the incubation of the eggs is not only perfected, but the young turtles have broken through the shell; so great is the power of the sun and the intensity of the heat absorbed by the sand.

“The third point noted by me is, that the young turtles, on coming out of the shell—at which time they are about the size of a half dollar,—do not leave the nest by daylight, nature having taught them that the heat of the sun will kill them, and the birds of prey will devour them. They come forth, therefore, in the silence and cool of the night; and what has most excited my admiration is, that although the hole from which they emerge may be half a mile or more from the river, they never mistake the road, but go in a direct line to the water. This pleased me so much, that I have repeatedly taken the turtles a great distance from the river, carrying them covered, and turning them around over and over again on the ground, in order to make them lose their course; but whenever they found themselves free, they made straight for the water, and I following them, admiring the wonderful goodness of the Creator, who thus endows each of his creatures with powers to find its natural element. What a lesson to us, who, in spite of the hope of eternal reward and the danger of everlasting punishment, scarce succeed in taking the right path for that ultimate goal for which the goodness and mercy of God created us!

“About this time the Indians, both men and women, rise very early, and the former turn over as many turtles as they please, leaving them on their backs in such a way as to render them incapable of resuming their natural position; for although they strive with their paddles to right themselves, their back is so high that they cannot touch the ground in order to obtain a foothold. They are then carried by their captors to the ranches, where they are made fast by leaving them on their backs, as aforesaid. Meanwhile the women and children occupy themselves in filling and carrying baskets of eggs and little turtles to the ranches, making large heaps of the former, and keeping the latter in the baskets to prevent their escape into the river, which they always do whenever they can. The men also dig holes in the sand down to the level of the river, which are quickly filled by the infiltration of the water, and place therein large numbers of baby-turtles, to be eaten as wanted; each of which makes a delicious mouthful, free from bones, the very shells being soft and tasty. The number of delicate young turtles eaten daily by the innumerable families congregated there is incalculable. But the quantity of eggs consumed is even greater, both as food and for the extraction of oil; so great, indeed, that notwithstanding the size of the Orinoco river, it is the opinion of the experts of that country that, were it not for this extraordinary consumption of turtles and their eggs, the increase of these animals in the river would be such as to render it unnavigable; for boats would find it impossible to make way through the immense number of turtles which would appear were all these eggs to be hatched; in which opinion I participate also. In the same way, it is said that on the fishing-banks of Newfoundland, frequented by so many vessels, the shoals of codfish are so immense that the passage of vessels is seriously embarrassed and delayed. It is also asserted that each fisherman can catch as many as four hundred codfish per day.

“Let us now see how the oil is extracted, which, as I have already said, is the chief attraction which brings so many people to the Orinoco. After washing the canoes which have brought them there, they draw them on the beach, and pour several pailsfull of water into them: they then wash the eggs in baskets, until not a grain of sand remains adhering to them, and when perfectly clean, they are emptied into the canoes and trod upon by children in the same way as grapes are mashed in wine-making. Once full, the canoes are left exposed to the sun’s rays, and in due time a fine and limpid liquid rises to the surface, which is the oleaginous portion of the eggs; so abundant is this, that I have been surprised to see a frying-pan placed dry on the fire, and after being heated, well beaten eggs poured therein, which, on touching the hot pan, gave forth sufficient oil to fry the omelet, with a certainty that it never sticks to the pan.

“Whilst the heat of the sun is extracting this fine oil, the Indian women place large pots over the fire, and the men with fine shells, very suitable for the purpose, remove the oil from the surface of the mixture in the canoes, and carry it to the pots, where the heat of the fire boils and purifies it. If, during the operation of transferring the oil any of the beaten eggs are taken along, they remain fixed in the bottom of the pots. The oil, when purified, is put in suitable jars, and is much finer and clearer than that of olives, as I have proven to many Europeans, who could hardly believe it, in the following manner. I filled half a glass with olive-oil; I then poured in a like quantity of oil from the eggs of turtles; when, lo! they commenced to change positions from top to bottom, first one and then the other, gradually mixing together in the middle until they finally commingled, losing their natural color and assuming an albuginous appearance like watered milk; the mixture being left quiet for half an hour or more, the egg-oil commenced to rise to the surface, and in a short time remained on top of the olive-oil, just as the latter floats on the surface of water, both resuming their natural color. But to return to our narrative.

“At the dinner hour—although they are all the while eating eggs and young turtles, just for the fun of it—a single animal will provide three large and distinct dishes, ample for the largest family; a turtle, split on both sides, furnishing the following portions, viz.: head and neck, the two hind legs, and the pectoral paddles, which require a good-sized pot to hold them. Before placing them in it, some large lumps of fat are removed, yellow as the yolk of an egg; and this is another source of gain, which the Indians take home; and as the turtle which gives the least, yields two pounds of this fat, the profit is considerable. The pot being placed on the fire, the husband takes the shell which forms the turtle’s back, and the wife the breast-plate; and after carefully chopping together the meat, fat, and great quantity of eggs which still adhere to the shell, the latter serve them as pots also, without the slightest danger of burning. Before the mess is quite cooked, they put the shells on the fireplaces, and make their first dish, the gigote, on the breast-plate, which is very delicious and tender; and even the breast-plate itself is sometimes eaten, as it becomes impregnated with the fat, and is quite palatable. The second dish is made from the hash prepared on the shell taken from the turtle’s back. This is quite a treat, and is called garapacho, I do not know why. Finally, the third dish is the olla, or bouilli, which ends the meal, and is washed down with plenty of chicha,[62] which they take good care to provide themselves with in sufficient quantity for the whole season.

“One would scarcely believe how fat the children, and in fact the whole pack of them, grow during the season; but no wonder, for as the good Father Manuel Roman, the Superior of our Orinoco missions, has often assured me, although born in Olmedo, and grown in Valladolid and Salamanca, he did not miss the fine mutton of those places so long as he could depend upon the turtles of the Orinoco. Other Spanish priests of the same missions expressed themselves in like terms.

“The gain and benefit derived from these turtles by the Indians does not stop here; for, besides the immense number of eggs which they consume, both as food and in the preparation of the oil, they also carry away great quantities of them, dried like figs in the sun; or by the heat of slumbering fires made underneath horizontal trellises raised for the purpose. The amount of eggs thus purloined can easily be imagined from the fact, that these people will readily give in exchange for a knife four basketfuls of them, each of which contains at least one thousand eggs. They also carry away as many turtles as they can conveniently stow in the canoes, without danger of sinking, tying them securely therein to prevent their escape.