Fred suggested that if the turtle covered his eggs over, it must require considerable skill to find a nest.
INDIANS HUNTING TURTLE'S EGGS.
"You are quite right," was the reply. "The Indians follow the tracks of the turtles in the sand, but there are so many of them that it is no easy matter. The turtle digs a trench in the sand about two feet deep with his broad paws, and then deposits the eggs and covers them. He smooths the sand over with his shell and goes away, and if he is favored by a shower just after his departure, you might think he had concealed his nest completely. But the Indian knows how to discover the deposit; he takes a blunt stick and thrusts it into the sand, and wherever it goes in easily he begins to dig with his hands. After a little practice he becomes so expert that he never makes a mistake, but invariably comes upon eggs. They have a thin but tough shell, and the yolk contains a great deal of oil. The natives eat these eggs raw, but they are too rank for the European stomach, though we use some of them in making omelets and cakes. The Indians crush them in broad trays, and collect the oil which soon rises to the top. Turtle oil is quite an article of commerce."
Frank asked how many eggs were usually found in a nest.
"The number varies a good deal," was the response. "I have seen a hundred and forty taken out of one nest, but usually there are not far from a hundred. It is a curious spectacle to see a dozen or more natives digging away at the sand, some lying at full length, some on their knees, and others bearing baskets full of eggs to the boats tied up to the bank."
Conversation on various topics consumed the time till the party reached one of the islands, and proceeded to land. There were several eagles flying in circles high above the boats, and keeping up a perpetual screaming as if in protest at the coming of the visitors. The Doctor "drew a bead" on one of them with his Remington rifle, and brought him to the ground—or rather to the lake, where one of the natives paddled out and secured the prize. He was a fine fellow, measuring nearly six feet from tip to tip of his extended wings. Frank and Fred wished to try their skill, and brought up the guns they had used the day before, but the Doctor told them nothing but a rifle could have any effect on these birds, owing to the height at which they were flying.
Two or three eagles were shot by the Doctor and his host; the boys each tried to bring down one of the huge birds, but did not succeed, as they had not practised with the rifle, and consequently were not expert in using it. By-and-by the excitement of shooting eagles came to an end, and the party started for the novel sport that had been promised.
A few hundred yards from the landing-place there was a clump of trees, to which the attention of the boys was directed; Frank remarked that the foliage was the darkest he had ever seen on a tree, and Fred suggested that there must have been a shower of ink not long ago, or perhaps the trees grew out of a bed of chimney-soot. Other reasons were given for the blackness of the trees—some of them serious and others jocular—but none were correct.