122 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



In 1900, twenty tortoises from the Galapagos Islands were land- 

 ed in San Francisco for Mr. Rothschild, and shipped to London 

 via Boston. The trip to Boston proved disastrous to the collec- 

 tion, for only six specimens reached Boston alive. These com- 

 prised specimens of Testudo vicina and microphyes. 



The third and by far the finest lot of these reptiles arrived in 

 San Francisco during the early part of 1901. They were brought 

 by the schooner owned by Captain William Johnson. Three of 

 the tortoises in this shipment were the largest ever captured, 

 weighing over three hundred pounds each. Mr. F. B. Webster, 

 of Boston, purchased this entire lot of reptiles. Two of them 

 died in San Francisco, and one died a short time after reaching 

 Mr. Webster's place at Hyde Park. One of the three largest 

 specimens was purchased by the New York Zoological Society, 

 together with four others. Six specimens were purchased by Mr. 

 Rothschild; two were sold to Count Peracca, in Italy, and the 

 remainder were disposed of among zoological institutions. 



Although the last expedition to the Galapagos Islands claimed 

 to have placed the last survivors of the race in captivity, it seems 

 reasonable to believe that in the interior of the larger islands, con- 

 cealed by the vegetation and the rugged inequalities of that vol- 

 canic country, a substantial number of the monster tortoises yet 

 exist. 



From observations made in the East Indies and in zoological 

 gardens of Europe, wherein giant tortoises have been exhibited, 

 they seem to attain the most astonishing ages. Many records 

 demonstrate that a century constitutes but a fraction of the tor- 

 toise's existence. Few are better able to speak upon this subject 

 than Mr. Rothschild, who has made a special study of the creat- 

 ures. The following is a portion of a letter from Mr. F. B. Web- 

 ster quoting Mr. Rothschild's views concerning the age of a speci- 

 men which seems to be younger than the largest in the Zoological 

 Park collection: 



" You may be interested to know what Mr. Rothschild says 

 about the tortoises. You will remember I told you that, in my 

 opinion, the ages of Nos. i, 2, 3, 4, and 5 was about three hundred 

 and fifty years each. There could be no great difference between 

 them, although Nos. 4 and 5 looked the oldest. Now No. i was 

 sent to Mr. Rothschild. While it was the largest, its shell did 

 not show quite the age of the others. Its size and general ap- 

 pearance, however, indicated that it had lived in a smoother sec- 



