1790, William Beckford on the turtle -
A Descriptive Account of the Island of Jamaica: With Remarks Upon the Cultivation of the Sugar-cane, ... Also Observations and Reflections Upon what Would Probably be the Consequences of an Abolition of the Slave-trade, and of the Emancipation of the Slaves. By William Beckford, Esq. ... In Two Volumes. ... T. and J. Egerton, 1790
It is well known that turtles will not only live for a very considerable length of time without food and water, but even out of the last element; and those that I purchased at the Grand Caymanas, in my voyage from Jamaica to England, increased very considerably in weight, notwithstanding they were not given any sustenance during the passage.
We had many of these animals, and of different sizes, on board; some of which, for want of casks, were laid upon their backs, and continued in this posture upon deck for many days; and although some of them were bruised, yet they very soon recovered after they were removed into the puncheons, although two or three from their superior dimensions, could with difficulty turn around in their places of confinement.
They were taken out of the casks every morning; their eyes were rubbed, and fresh water was started into the puncheons, by which they seemed to be immediately revived; and it was easy to observe, that they daily acquired, not only health, but If they remain for any time floating upon the surface of the water, it is a sure sign that they are not well; so on the contrary, when they keep at the bottom of the cask it is a symptom that they are in perfect health.
I think I could perceive a difference in their breathing when they were in the water, and when they were out of their well known element; for when they came upon the surface to blow, there seemed to be a real pleasure in the natural inspiration; but when they lay upon their backs, they were used to bring out such heartfelt sighs as were really affecting, at the same time that their eyes were literally suffused with tears. It was melancholy to look at them, and at the same time to be conscious of their destination: and well, indeed, might the poor creatures sigh and weep; and much may luxury be despised and execrated for entailing such a length of suffering, and causing to die a kind of living death, this much-enduring and (for itself unfortunately) delicious animal.
What would the simple and unlettered Bramin, or what would the Pythagorean philosophy say to this cruel instance of refinement and gluttony? No man, I should hope, could kill a turtle without pain, or behold its long continued convulsions in the pangs of death, without sacrificing his appetite to his humanity.
The excessive cold upon the banks of Newfoundland will sometimes kill a great number of them in a single night; and if fresh water be imprudently given to them in the River, it will be often found to be equally destructive.
Of turtles the best are supposed to be those which are caught in the neighbourhood of Jamaica: they are not so large as those that the fishermen bring off for sale from Port Antonio in the island of Cuba, but their fat and flesh are reckoned more rich and delicate.
Those that weigh from eighty to one hundred and fifty pounds, are generally preferred; but under three hundred weight they have seldom eggs, which are particularly delicious: nor can their difference of sexes, as I have been assured by the turtlers with whom I have conversed, be, under a particular age, with certainty distinguished; a circumstance, if a fact, that is well worthy the investigation of the naturalist!
That they will live and thrive in fresh water, is undeniable. I have kept several in ponds in England, and one in particular for many weeks. If it did not feed upon the small fry, with which it was stocked, it was certainly used to chase them; but I am disposed to think that they frequently served it at last as food.
The hawk's-bill turtle is large and coarse: its meat is not only dry, but very strong and unsavoury: its scales are more valuable than those of the green turtle, and afford, among the Caymanas, and elsewhere a species of trade.
The land turtle of Jamaica are among the principal delicacies of the Island; and there are but few people who have resided there long, who do not give them a decided preference. They are excessively fat, and when large the females are often full of eggs; and when they are in perfection, it is difficult to conceive any viand more rich and nutritive.
We had many of these animals, and of different sizes, on board; some of which, for want of casks, were laid upon their backs, and continued in this posture upon deck for many days; and although some of them were bruised, yet they very soon recovered after they were removed into the puncheons, although two or three from their superior dimensions, could with difficulty turn around in their places of confinement.
They were taken out of the casks every morning; their eyes were rubbed, and fresh water was started into the puncheons, by which they seemed to be immediately revived; and it was easy to observe, that they daily acquired, not only health, but If they remain for any time floating upon the surface of the water, it is a sure sign that they are not well; so on the contrary, when they keep at the bottom of the cask it is a symptom that they are in perfect health.
I think I could perceive a difference in their breathing when they were in the water, and when they were out of their well known element; for when they came upon the surface to blow, there seemed to be a real pleasure in the natural inspiration; but when they lay upon their backs, they were used to bring out such heartfelt sighs as were really affecting, at the same time that their eyes were literally suffused with tears. It was melancholy to look at them, and at the same time to be conscious of their destination: and well, indeed, might the poor creatures sigh and weep; and much may luxury be despised and execrated for entailing such a length of suffering, and causing to die a kind of living death, this much-enduring and (for itself unfortunately) delicious animal.
What would the simple and unlettered Bramin, or what would the Pythagorean philosophy say to this cruel instance of refinement and gluttony? No man, I should hope, could kill a turtle without pain, or behold its long continued convulsions in the pangs of death, without sacrificing his appetite to his humanity.
The excessive cold upon the banks of Newfoundland will sometimes kill a great number of them in a single night; and if fresh water be imprudently given to them in the River, it will be often found to be equally destructive.
Of turtles the best are supposed to be those which are caught in the neighbourhood of Jamaica: they are not so large as those that the fishermen bring off for sale from Port Antonio in the island of Cuba, but their fat and flesh are reckoned more rich and delicate.
Those that weigh from eighty to one hundred and fifty pounds, are generally preferred; but under three hundred weight they have seldom eggs, which are particularly delicious: nor can their difference of sexes, as I have been assured by the turtlers with whom I have conversed, be, under a particular age, with certainty distinguished; a circumstance, if a fact, that is well worthy the investigation of the naturalist!
That they will live and thrive in fresh water, is undeniable. I have kept several in ponds in England, and one in particular for many weeks. If it did not feed upon the small fry, with which it was stocked, it was certainly used to chase them; but I am disposed to think that they frequently served it at last as food.
The hawk's-bill turtle is large and coarse: its meat is not only dry, but very strong and unsavoury: its scales are more valuable than those of the green turtle, and afford, among the Caymanas, and elsewhere a species of trade.
The land turtle of Jamaica are among the principal delicacies of the Island; and there are but few people who have resided there long, who do not give them a decided preference. They are excessively fat, and when large the females are often full of eggs; and when they are in perfection, it is difficult to conceive any viand more rich and nutritive.