Maximilian Prinz von Wied, Travels in Brazil, in 1815, 1816, and 1817, London: Sir Richard Phillips, and Company, 1825, pp. 102-103 ("While collecting drift-wood on the strand, we perceived at a small distance a huge turtle, the Testudo Mydas of Linnaeus, which seemed anxious to lay her eggs. Our presence did not interrupt it; the animal evinced no other signs of fear at our presence than by a hiss similar to that of a goose. We could even take it up, but its weight required four men to lift it up. It then began to work with its hindmost fins, and soon formed a round hole in the bed of sand, and immediately began to deposit its eggs. One of our soldiers laid down at his whole length on the ground, and with his hand pulled out the eggs continually; by this means we collected in about ten minutes 100 eggs. As the great weight of the turtle alone would be as much as a good stout pack-horse could carry, besides the difficulty of placing the cumbrous mass in a way to be conveyed thence, we resolved to spare his life and to be satisfied with its ample tribute of eggs. …")
