It is in the sand of the beach that these amphibians choose the most
convenient places to deposit their eggs. The operation commences with
sunset and finishes with the dawn.
At this moment the chief turtle had left the bed of the river to
reconnoiter for a favorable spot; the others, collected in thousands,
were soon after occupied in digging with their hind paddles a trench
six hundred feet long, a dozen wide, and six deep. After laying their
eggs they cover them with a bed of sand, which they beat down with
their carapaces as if they were rammers.
This egg-laying operation is a grand affair for the riverine Indians
of the Amazon and its tributaries. They watch for the arrival of the
chelonians, and proceed to the extraction of the eggs to the sound of
the drum; and the harvest is divided into three parts--one to the
watchers, another to the Indians, a third to the state, represented
by the captains of the shore, who, in their capacity of police, have
to superintend the collection of the dues. To certain beaches which
the decrease of the waters has left uncovered, and which have the
privilege of attracting the greater number of turtles, there has been
given the name of "royal beaches.
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