time they are about the size of one of our silver dollars, and are quite lively and quick in their movements -which seems only a wise provision of nature, as they have many enemies to contend with.

THE TORTOISE.

The Galapagos are also celebrated for the great number of land tortoise that make their homes on those islands. They are of the genus Testudo, and are altogether inhabitants of the land; of little value, except as food.

The tortoise (Testudo inbricata), whose shell is so beautiful and valuable, is a species of sea turtle, and with similar habits. The shell of the tortoise covers the back in plates overlapping each other like tiling, and in its natural state is about one-eighth of an inch in thickness. It has the property of being molded in any form at a heat of 212 degrees, and retaining the given shape on cooling. Many tons of the shell are exported to Europe and America, where it is worked into the many ornamental and useful forms we meet with in the stores. This species is seldom found in the west longitudes of the Pacific.

SPONGE FISHERIES.

Sponges, classed by some writers as belonging to the marine species of vegetation, and by others to the marine animal kingdom, a species of the zoophytes, have long formed an important article of trade in all parts of the world. The Bahamas, in the West Indies, the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean and Red Seas, the Levant, Green Turtle Bay, the Orient, with some

as tar.

other localities, have for many years had almost a monopoly of the sponge trade. I again refer to Mr. Sterndale, whose personal experiences and writings are of considerable interest. Among the profitable industries of the coral seas, the collection of sponges is not the least important. To fish for sponges with success requires a certain degree of practice, as they are very difficult to recognize in the water when in a live state. They grow on the coral, and very much in the crevices of it, and are not by any means conspicuous, as they look like a part of the stone. When removed they are heavy, slimy, hard, and black The best of them are of the form of a mushroom, and are found from the size of a man's fist up to two feet in diameter. In these latitudes they usually lie within the lagoons, in water of a depth from one to ten fathoms. They are inhabited by animalculæ, which in the process of cleaning are decomposed and washed away. In order to effect this object upon a sandy beach where the tide ebbs and flows, a number of forked sticks are driven into the sand, and upon them are fastened slender poles, as a sort of frame-work; from these, sponges are suspended by strings in such a manner that when the tide is in, the sponges are floating in it; when the tide is out, they are exposed to the wind and sun. In the latter case, the animalculæ die and decay, and by alternate sorchings and washings, the sponge becomes cleaned and bleached, as well as softened, in consequence of the removal of the glutinous creatures which had inhabited it. When prepared in this manner, the usual rate of barter among the islands where they are chiefly obtained, is four large sponges for one yard of calico. I have found that they were greatly im

proved both in color and softness by being washed in hot fresh water, which had been previously strongly impregnated with the alkali of wood ashes.

The better way has been found, as practiced on the Mediterranean and at the Bahamas, to use a weak solution of muriatic acid, which not only effectually frees it of animalculæ, but removes the last traces of lime adhering to the sponge.

CHAPTER XI'I.

ISLAND PRODUCTS AND RESOURCES.

I

Rocks are rough, but smiling there
Th' acacia waves her yellow hair,
Lonely and sweet, nor loved the less
For flow'ring in a wilderness.

MOORE, (Lalla Rookh.)

THE ROBBER CRAB.

WAS a good deal interested during our voyage, in the many tales, legends and experiences so ready to the sailor tongue, some of which must be listened to and taken with a grain of salt. Yet at times I was able to verify what at first seemed to be some very hard tales. Thus, at Vanikoro, one of the Santa Cruz group, where we remained for nearly ten days, the great land-crab of the South Sea was met with, known here by the name of "Koviu." It was ascertained to be the Birgus latro, the Anamoura of the Crustace family, or, in plainer terms, and universally used in the Pacific, the Land or Robber Crab. Some of the species met with were over two feet long and about eighteen inches across. They live altogether on the land, seldom taking to the water, although perfectly at home in that element. Their nests are made among the roots of the cocoanut tree,

and in the little caves and openings among the rocks and coral, and are nicely arranged for ease and comfort, being lined with the fibrous covering of the cocoanut. During the day they are seldom seen, selecting night for their peregrinations.

AS A GOURMAND.

Shrewd and cunning to a high degree, they seldom miss the hatching out of the young turtle, whose nests they watch with almost maternal solicitude. But for a somewhat different purpose-that of making a repast of the tender young turtles, as they are scudding for the water, and which they devour with the greatest gusto. I am told that one of the reasons of the extreme caution of the female turtle, when selecting places to deposit her eggs, is an instinctive fear of this highwayman. True, the crab does not care for the eggs, but, as the sailors say, when the young turtle are coming out, the "pirate never misses a trick.”

AS A LOVER OF COCOANUTS.

Of course the "robber" does not depend upon this mode of getting a living at all seasons. Such opportunities occur only during the hatching season of the turtle, which is but once a year. Another of the favorite methods the crab resorts to for obtaining food, is the continuous growth of the cocoanut. Climbing the trees with great skill and a surprising quickness, he shears off the fruit from the stem, selecting such nuts as are nearly ripe. After obtaining about one dozen in this manner, and which are allowed to fall to the ground, he descends the tree, and, with his great