. A System of natural history : containing scientifci [sic] and popular descriptions of man, quadrupeds, birds, fishes, reptiles and insects . l further intimidated by its nauseous and pestilential breath,which so powerfully affected theni that they were near fainting. Thisanimal wanted but four inches of being eight feet long, and was about twofeet over; its shell more resembled leather than the shell of a tortoise ; andunlike all other animals of this kind, it Avas furnished with teeth in eachjaw, one rank behind another, like those of a shark; its feet also, differentfrom the rest of this k
. A System of natural history : containing scientifci [sic] and popular descriptions of man, quadrupeds, birds, fishes, reptiles and insects . l further intimidated by its nauseous and pestilential breath,which so powerfully affected theni that they were near fainting. Thisanimal wanted but four inches of being eight feet long, and was about twofeet over; its shell more resembled leather than the shell of a tortoise ; andunlike all other animals of this kind, it Avas furnished with teeth in eachjaw, one rank behind another, like those of a shark; its feet also, differentfrom the rest of this kind, wanted claws ; and the tail was quite disengagedfrom the shell, and fifteen inches long, more resembling that of a quadrupedthan a tortoise. These are a formidable and useless kind, if compared to the turtle caughtin the South seas and the Indian ocean. These are of different kinds; notonly unlike each other in form, but furnishing man with very different ad-vantages. They are usually distinguished by sailors into four kinds; thetrunk turtle, the loggerhead, the hawksbill, and the green turtle. THE HAWKSBILL, OR IMBRICATED TURTLE,i. Is the least of the four, and has a long and small mouth, somewhat resem-bling the bill of a hawk. The flesh of this, also, is very indifferent eating;but the shell serves for the most valuable purposes. This is the animal thatsupplies the tortoise shell, of which such a variety of beautiful trinkets aremade. ^ Chelonia imbricata, Cuv. REPTILIA —CROCODILE. 691 But of all animals of the tortoise kind, the green turtle^ is the most notedand the most valuable, from the delicacy of its flesh, and its nutritive quali-ties, together with the property of being easily digested. It is generallyfound about two hundred pounds in weight; though some are five hundred,and others not above fifty. Dampier mentions one so large that a boy often years of age, the son of Captain Rock, went from the shore in the shellof it, as a boat, to his fathers ship. This a
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