422 NOVITATES ZOOLOGICAE XXII. 1915. 



" lie Marianne is onl}' an elevated rock covered with scrub and lacking water 

 during a large jiortion of the year. A few small Land Tortoises are found. 



" He de la Digne. This is the island on which a prodigious number — perhaps 

 most of all — of Laud Tortoises are found. 



"He anx Vaches Marines. There are on this ishxnd a considerable number 

 of tortoises." 



Captain Laplace, during a voj'age round the world, made a long stay in the 

 Seychelles in 1830, and after saying liow astonished he was at the large size of 

 the Sea Turtle, many having a shell 4 feet long by ;U wide, lie proceeds to say : 

 '■ The Land Tortoises are very common in the archipelago ; they are smaller and 

 rounder than the Turtles. Large numbers are shipped to the neighbouring 

 colonies." (Voyage autour dn Monde sur la corvette La Favorite, 1834.) 



Truth to tell, even as late as this epoch, tlie importation into Mauritius of 

 Land Tortoises was still enormous. Here is a list of vessels recorded in the 

 Gazette de Maurice as discharging at Fort Louis in 1826 : — 



" 8th January, ' Le Pecheur,' having left the He de Providence December 10th, 

 1825. 800 Tortoises. 



" 28th May, the same shij), having left the Seychelles May 3rd. 800 Tortoises. 



" loth June, 'Le Cheriby,' ont from Saint Brandon June 7th. 15 Tortoises. 



" 6th December, ' Le Jeune Ferdinand,' out from the Seychelles November 12th. 

 1600 Tortoises." 



Here we have over 3200 Land Tortoises sent to Mauritius in 1S26, 24tM) from 

 the Seychelles and 800 from the He de la Providence. 



Monsieur L. de Grandpre, who landed at the Seychelles in 1790, remarks : 

 " It is important to mention how greatly these islands abound in Land Tortoises. 

 How can they have got here ? " (Voyage dans I'lnde et an Bengal par L. de 

 Grandpre, 1801). 



In a work entitled Les lies de PA/rique, Paris 1848, Monsieur Eugene de 

 Froberville summarises the case as follows : 



"In Bodrignez since end of last century the Land Tortoises have become 

 scarce " (p. 7u). 



"On Galega Island in 178.5 only a very small number of Laud Tortoises were 

 found " (p. S3). 



" Formerly on Mahe the number of Laud Tortoises was gigantic, but now they 

 are confined to the most inaccessible mountain gorges" (p. 92). 



" AVhen Lieutenant Oger took possession of Silhouette he reports that this 

 island abounded in Laud and Sea Tortoises more than any other of the group" ([>. 98). 



"In 1771 the He de Digue was full of crocodiles and Land Tortoises. One 

 crocodile Oger measured was 13 feet long and 8 feet round tiie belly " (p. 99). 



"When Lazare Picault took possession of the Seychelles in 1744 (9th 

 November), he found on the larger islands of the group large quantities of Land 

 and Sea Tortoises and Crocodiles of various sizes " (p. 103). 



" The Amirante Isles are only inhabited during a part of the year by people 

 from the Seychelles and Mauritius collecting Land and Sea Tortoises" (p. 1)0). 



"On the Alphonse Islands Land Tortoises are extremely abundant" (p. 111). 



" On the African Isles many Land Tortoises are found " (p. 111). 



" The lie de la Providence abounds in Land and Sea Tortoises " (p. 1 12). 



"Picault, when he discovered the Isle of Astove, 27th October, 1742, 

 saw there large (quantities of very large Land Tortoises " (p. 114). 



