come on shore only
in the day time, quite different from what I had heard of them at other
places; whereas all we caught here were by turning them over in the
night, when the females come on shore to lay their eggs and bury them in
the dry sand. One of these whom we caught had 800 eggs in her belly, 150
of which were skinned over and ready for being extruded at once. Some
authors alledge that these eggs are six weeks in hatching, which I can
hardly credit, as the sun makes the sand in which they are deposited
excessively hot, and they are only covered by a very thin film or skin,
instead of a shell. In order to ascertain this point, I made some of our
men ashore watch one carefully, and mark the place and time of laying
her eggs. In less than twelve hours they found the eggs addled, and in
about twelve hours more they had young ones completely formed and alive.
Had we remained some time longer, I might have thoroughly satisfied
myself and others, respecting the quick production of tortoises; for I
am apt to credit the report of several of our men, who asserted that
having found eggs in the sand, and looked for them three days afterwards
in the same place, they then found nothing but films; which shews that
the young ones are hatched in that time. They assured me also that they
had seen the young brood run out of the sand every day, making directly
in great numbers for the sea.

There were few fish about the shores of this island, these being of the
ordinary sorts usually met with in these seas; but the abundance of
turtle at this time amply made up for this defect. The chief officers
fed here deliciously, being scarcely ever without hares, turtle-doves,
pigeons, and parrots of various colours and sizes, many of which had
white or red heads, with tufts of feathers on their crowns. We found
good anchorage at this middle island, and gradual soundings from
twenty-four to four fathoms close by the shore; and between this and the
least or southern island the depth was about the same as where we were,
having no shoal between but what was visible, as a rock lay off the S.W.
point and a shoal off the N.E. point of the same, with another at a
great distance from that point of the least island, but neither were
above half a mile from the shore.

Sailing from these islands, we saw land on the 1st November, which
proved to be the point of California, or that headland called Cape St
Ducas. It was now necessary to put in execution t