Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
February 17, 1795
Primary Source Reference:
Gazette of the United States (Philadelphia), 17 Feb 1795
Additional Source Text:
"It is described by Mr. Bartram in his travels through Georgia
Notes:
“Here [Halway Pond, present-day Cowpen Lake, near Interlachen, Putnam County, Fla.] are, as well as in all the rivers, lakes, and ponds of East Florida, the great soft-shelled tortoises: they are very large when full grown, from twenty to thirty and forty pounds weight, extremely fat and delicious, but if eaten to excess, are apt to purge people not accustomed to eat their meat.” (William Bartram, Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, east and west Florida, the Cherokee country, the extensive territories of the Muscogulges, or Creek confederacy, and the country of the Chactaws: containing an account of the soil and natural productions of those regions: together with observations on the manners of the Indians [London, 1794], p. 175 and plate 4)
What Bartram and Peale called the soft-shelled tortoise is the Florida softshell turtle (Apalone ferox).
Peale's Common Name:
Soft shell tortoise
Current Common Name:
Florida softshell turtle
Current Scientific Name
Apalone ferox
