Note 14 — Chapter II · CEREMONIAL CUSTOMS

A few other customs connected with food may be mentioned here. There is only one way in which a turtle may be killed14. It must be laid on its back with its head pointing towards the open sea, and a skewer of wood is then thrust through the eye-socket into the brain. The natives say that if a turtle were killed in any other way than this, the meat would be “bad,” i.e., uneatable.