"Is the manufacture of false pearls so great as that?" Fred inquired.
"It is pretty extensive," was the captain's response, "but not enormously so. The fact is, it requires more than a thousand of these little fish to make an ounce of the 'essence d'orient,' as the French call it, or essence of pearl. Other substances have been tried, in the hope of obtaining the same result for a smaller outlay, but none of them have been entirely successful. There is—"
The conversation was interrupted at this moment by a call from the Doctor, who was sitting near the rail, and happened to be looking at the sea. The rest of the party rushed to his side, and their eyes followed the direction indicated by his finger.
THE DOCTOR'S DISCOVERY.
The object that attracted his attention was an enormous turtle not more than ten yards away. He appeared to be asleep, as he was lying perfectly still, and did not seem aware that a ship was near him. Suddenly he roused himself, and raised his head an instant above the surface to take a survey of the situation. Evidently he scented danger, as he lost no time in diving below, where the ship was not likely to follow him.
Pearls were dropped from the conversation, and turtles took their place. As the turtle is a product of the sea, the subject was not likely to be an unknown one to Captain Johnson.
"There are several varieties of the marine turtle," said the captain, "and more of the land-turtle, or tortoise; as we are at sea, and engaged on matters connected with salt-water, we will leave the occupant of the land quite out of consideration. His marine brother has fins instead of feet, and he rarely goes on shore except in the breeding-season. Some of the sea-turtles live entirely on vegetable food, while others devour shell-fish and other living things; the flesh of the vegetable-feeders is delicious, while that of the animal-feeders is not. They grow to a great size when compared with the land-turtle: the green turtle that makes such excellent soup is frequently five feet long, and weighs five or six hundred pounds; and the loggerhead-turtle sometimes reaches a weight of one thousand five hundred pounds and more."
"Enough to feed a great many people," Frank remarked.