Page 105
An. 1684
Sea-Tortoise, and their Kinds.
All sorts of Turtle use the same methods in laying. I knew a Man in Jamaica that made 8 pound Ster- ling of the Shell of these Hawksbill Turtle which he got in one Season, and in one small Bay, not half a Mile long. The manner of taking them is to watch the Bay, by walking from one part to the other all Night; making no noise, nor keeping any sort of light. When the Turtle come ashore, the Man that watches for them turns them on their backs, then hales them above high water mark, and leaves them till the morning. A large Green Turtle with her weight and struggling will puzzle 2 Men to turn her. The Hawksbill Turtle are not only found in the West Indies, but on the Coast of Guinea, and in the East Indies: I never saw any in the South Seas.
The Green Turtle are so called, because their Shell is greener than any other. It is very thin and clear, and better clowded than the Hawksbill: but 'tis used only for inlays, being extraordinary thin. These Turtles are generally larger than the Hawksbill: One will weigh 2 or 3 hundred pound: Their backs are flatter than the Hawksbill, their heads round and small. Green Turtle are the sweetest of all the kinds: But there are degrees of them, both in re- spect to their flesh and their bigness. I have ob- served that at Blanco in the West-Indies the Green Turtle (which is the only kind there) are larger than any other in the North Seas. There they commonly will weigh 280 or 300 pound: Their Fat is Yellow, and the Lean white, and their flesh extraordinary sweet. At Bocca Toro West of Portabel- they are not so large, their flesh not so white; nor the Fat so Yellow. Those in the Bays of Honduras and Campeachy are somewhat, smaller still, their Fat is green, and the Lean of a darker colour than those at Boca Toro. I heard of a Monstrous Green Turtle once taken at Port Royal in the Bay of Campeachy, that was 4 foot deep from the back to the belly, and