376 



C MELON I A 



of its shell was 55 inches, or 67^ inches over the curve ; total 

 weight 560 ll>s. This specimen had a chequered career. 

 Although its original home must have been the Aldabra atoll, 

 it had been known for many years on Egmont Island, one of the 

 Chagos Islands. According to tradition, it had been there 

 some 150 years, but the first settlement on that island was 



Fi<;. S3. Testudo daiulini (al)ove) and T. nftinyiloni (below). x-jV 



formed from Mauritius only at the beginning of this century. 

 The owner of the tortoise, M. Antelme, took it to Mauritius, 

 whence it came to England. On the Egmout Island it used 

 to bury itself for six months in the ground without eating 

 anything. 



T. sumeirei. This kind is supposed to have been the species 

 peculiar to the Seychelles. In 1766 five large tortoises were 

 brought from the Seychelles to Mauritius by Chevalier Marion 

 de Tresne. Of these only three were alive in 1898, two in 



