SIGN OF THE TORTOISE. 151 
in three days “ signified by the accepted sign of the heavens arched 
over three suns.” 
In the popular mythology of Japan* the tortoise is the servant 
of Kompira, a Buddhist divinity identified by Shinto with the god 
Kotohira. If a pious fisherman finds a tortoise he writes upon 
its back characters signifying * Servant of the Deity Kompira,” 
gives it a drink of sake (rice wine) of which it is said to be fond, and 
sets it free. Some say that the land tortoise or stone tortoise 
{compare Sinhalese gal-cbba| only is the servant? of Kompira, 
the sea turtle being the servant of the Dragon Empire beneath 
the sea, the latter having power to create with its breath a 
cloud, a fog, or a palace. It figures in the Japanese Fairy Tale of 
Urashima. Tortoises have been known to live for several centuries, 
and in Japan it is supposed that they live for a thousand years ; 
they are therefore one of the most frequent symbols of longevity 
in Japanese art. The tortoise commonly represented by native 
painters and metal-workers has a fringe of tails trailing behind, 
like the fringes of a straw rain coat or mino, whence it is called 
minogame. Mr. Hearn adds that some of the tortoises kept in the 
sacred tanks of Buddhist temples attain a great age and acquire a 
coating of water plants: which stream behind them ; the menogamé 
is said to have had its origin in this circumstance. 
Tortoises and turtles constitute a well-defined order of reptiles 
comprising species which inhabit the dry land, fresh water rivers, 
lakes and tanks,{ and the sea. They are distinguished by the 
possession of a dermal skeleton arching over the body, beneath 
which the head, limbs, and tail may be more or less completely 
retracted. The upper portion of this long shield is called the 
turtle back or carapace ; it presents a characteristic rounded con- 
tour capable of easy delineation. 
In consequence of the diversity of their mode of life and also 
of their geological age, the Chelonians are widely distributed 
over the surface of the globe ; the order is virtually cosmopolitan 
and known to all mankind. On account of their peculiar form, 
their relative invulnerability, sluggish, persistent habits, their 
fecundity, and long life, it is not surprising to learn that they appear 
in many guises in the folklore of the world.§ 

* My information on this subject is derived from the late Lafecadio Hearn’s 
*“ Glimpses of: Unfamiliar Japan,” Boston and New York, 1898-1899, vol. 
II., p. 367. I have closely followed the original phraseology. 
+ By “ servant ”’ is no doubt meant “ vehicle.” 
{ It is well known that the fresh water species exercise a scavenging 
and purifying influence in the waters where they abound. Sir Emerson 
Tennent notes that in Ceylon they are sometimes placed in wells to keep 
the water pure. For the same reason the tortoises of the Ganges are held 
to be sacred. 
§ Professor Gubernatis (op. cit.) states, inter alia, that “ the Romans 
were accustomed to bathe newborn babes in the concavity cf a tortoise, 
as if in a shield.” 
