Page 104
An. 1684
Sea-Tortoise, and their Kinds.
ing to their feeding. In some places they feed on Grass, as the Green Tortoise also doth; in other places they keep among Rocks, and feed on Moss or Sea-Weeds; but these are not so sweet as those that eat Grass, neither is their Shell so clear, for they are commonly overgrown with Barnacles, which spoils the Shell; and their Flesh is common- ly yellow, especially the fat.
Hawksbill Turtle are in many places of the West Indies. They have Islands and places peculiar to themselves where they lay their Eggs, and seldom come among any other Turtle. These, and all o- ther Turtle lay Eggs in the Sand: their time of lay- ing is in May, June, July; some begin sooner, some later. They lay three times in a season, and at each time 80 or 90 Eggs. Their Eggs are as big as a Hens Egg, and very round, covered only with a white tough Skin. There are some Bays on the North side of Jamaica, where these Hawksbills re- fort to lay. In the Bay of Honduras are Islands which they likewise make their breeding places, and many places along all the Coast on the Main of the West Indies, from Trinidado to La Vera Cruz in the Bay of Nova Hispania. When a Sea Turtle turns out of the Sea to lay, she is at least an hour before she re- turnsagain; for she is 200 above high water mark, and if it be low water when she comes ashore, she must rest once or twice, being heavy, before she comes to the place where she lays. When she hath found a place for her purpose, she makes a great hole with her Fins in the Sand, wherein she lays her Eggs, then covers them 2 foot deep with the same Sand which she threw out of the hole, and so re- turns: Sometimes they come up the night before they intend to lay, and take a view of the place, and so having made a Tour, or Semicircular March, they return to the Sea again, and they never fail to come ashore the next night to lay near that place. All