I 



OFF THE COAST OF FLORIDA 



Theodore Roosevelt, ex-President of the United States and man of vital personality in contact with 

 men. is also a humble field naturalist. The two gopher tortoises (Testudo polyphemus) were caught on 

 sandy islands near Punta Gorda. They are thought to live to be very old. They tame easily and show 

 considerable intelligence. They are close relatives of the almost extinct species of the Galapagos Islands 

 in the Pacific, the "giant tortoises," survivors of an age when many reptiles grew to astounding propor- 

 tions. It is thought possible that the "giant tortoises" live several hundred years 



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