LAND TORTOISES. 17 



is rocky, she drops them indiscriminately in any 

 hollow. Mr, Bynoe found seven placed in a line 

 in a fissure. The egg is white and spherical ; one 

 which I measured was seven inches and three- 

 eighths in circumference. The young animals, as 

 soon as they are hatched, fall a prey in great num- 

 bers to the buzzard with the habits of the cara- 

 cara. The old ones seem generally to die from 

 accidents, as from falling down precipices : at 

 least, several of the inhabitants told me they had 

 never found one dead without some such apparent 

 cause. The inhabitants believe that these animals 

 are absolutely deaf; certainly they do not over- 

 hear a person walking close behind them. I was 

 always amused, when, overtaking one of these 

 great monsters as it was quietly pacing along, to 

 see how suddenly, the instant I passed, it would 

 draw in its head and legs, and uttering a deep 

 hiss, fall to the ground with a heavy sound, as if 

 struck dead. I frequently got on their backs, 

 and then, upon giving a few raps on the hinder 

 part of the shell, they would rise up and walk 

 away ; but I found it very difficult to keep my 

 balance. The flesh of this animal is largely em- 

 ployed, both fresh and salted; and a" beautifully 

 clear oil is prepared from the fat. When a Tor- 

 toise is caught, the man makes a slit in the skin 

 near its tail, so as to see, inside its body, whether 

 the fat under the dorsal plate is thick. If it is 

 not, the animal is liberated ; and it is said to re- 

 cover soon from this strange operation. In order 

 to secure the Tortoises, it is not sufficient to turn 

 them like Turtle, for they are often able to re- 

 gain their upright position."* 



* " Darwin's " Journal. 



