2 TORTOISES, TEEEAPINS, AND TURTLES. 



This species has been confounded with Testuclo indica, which differs from it in having a distinct 

 nuchal plate and a differently shaped head, and which is a native of the Seychelles, whence it is often 

 introduced into the gardens of the Mauritius, where it is eaten. Some have been brought thence to 

 India ; but Mr. Blyth states that it has never been known to propagate in that country. 



General Hardwicke figures a very young specimen which he had at Bengal ; but it might have been 

 introduced. 



Mr. Darwin observes : — " These animals are found, I believe, on all the islands of the Archipelago, 

 certainly on the greater number. They frequent in preference the high damp parts, but they likewise 

 live in the lower and arid districts. I have already shown, from the numbers which have been caught 

 in a single day, how very numerous they must be. Some grow to an immense size ; Mr. Lawson, an 

 Englishman, and Vice-Governor of the colony, told us that he had seen several so large that it 

 required six or eight men to lift them from the ground, and that some had afforded as much as two 

 hundred pounds of meat. The old males are the largest, the females rarely growing to so large a size : 

 the male can readily be distinguished from the female by the greater length of its tail. The Tortoises 

 which live on those islands where there is no water, or in the lower and arid part of the others, feed 

 chiefly on succulent cactus. Those which frequent the higher and damp regions, eat the leaves of 

 various trees, a kind of berry (called gumjavita) which is acid and austere, and likewise a pale green 

 filamentous lichen ( TJsnea plicata) that hangs in tresses from the boughs of the trees. 



" The Tortoise is very fond of water, drinking large quantities, and wallowing in the mud. The 

 larger islands alone possess springs ; and these are always situated towards the central parts, and at a 

 considerable height. The Tortoises, therefore, which frequent the lower districts, when thirsty, are 

 obliged to travel from a long distance. Hence broad and well-beaten paths branch off in every 

 direction from the wells down to the sea-coast; and the Spaniards, by following them up, first 

 discovered the watering-places. When I landed at Chatham Island, I could not imagine what animal 

 travelled so methodically along well-chosen tracks. Near the springs it Avas a curious spectacle to 

 behold many of the huge creatures, one set eagerly travelling onwards with outstretched necks, and 

 another set returning, after having drunk their fill. When the Tortoise arrives at the spring, quite 

 regardless of any spectator, he buries his head in the water above his eyes, and greedily swallows great 

 mouthfuls, at the rate of about ten in a minute." 



Captain David Porter, in his Journal of a Cruise made to the Pacific Ocean in the U.S. Erigate 

 « Essex' in the years 1812-14, states : — " Four boats were despatched every morning to bring in a stock 

 of Tortoises, and returned at night, bringing with them from twenty to thirty each, averaging about 

 60 lbs. ; and in four days we had as many as we could conveniently stow. They were piled up on the 

 quarter-deck for a few days, in order that they might have time to discharge the contents of their 

 intestines, which are considerable ; after which they were stowed away below, like any other provision. 

 They require no food or water for a year ; nor is any further attention to them necessary, than that 

 their shells should be preserved unbroken." 



4. TESTUDO RADIATA, Shaw. 

 Tab. VII. & VIII. 

 Testudo radiata, Gray, Cat. Sh. Rept. Suppl. p. 5. 

 Hab. Madagascar. 



Characterized by the spherical form of the shell, the yellow areola, and black rays of the shields. 



