162 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
ing the tortoises. On our walk up to the ranch, 10 miles by 
trail from the shore settlement, we counted over 30 tortoises in 
the last three miles, and it was quite evident that at this place 
were more tortoises than we had ever expected to see in their 
native state. 
At the time of my visit, the majority of the tortoises were in 
the open glades and sunny parks in the upper edge of the forest. 
In every such place along the trail, and near other trails traversed 
near the ranch, they could be seen feeding, walking about, or 
quietly sleeping with their heads against the base of some bush 
or tree where they had dug a form in which to lie. The form 
which a tortoise occupies is similar in shape to that of the com- 
mon hare in California; but instead of facing outward, as does 
the hare, the tortoise always faces inward. 
The tortoise seemed to have no regular time for feeding, being 
at all hours of the day eating or walking about. During the 
middle of the day, if the sun is shining, they keep in the shade 
of the trees, but if it is cloudy many spend the time wandering 
back and forth on the trails. We were told by the natives that 
in the summer the tortoises go up to the top of the mountain ;. 
and this statement confirmed my observations of similar habits 
of other species in the Archipelago. 
We found that the tortoise trails extend up and down the 
mountain side for miles, one of the objective points at the lower 
part of the range being a rocky basin where water collects during 
rains. By centuries of constant use these rocks have been worn 
so smooth that it is almost impossible to walk over them after 
a rain, while they are wet. Once we noticed four tortoises slak- 
ing their thirst at a rocky pool near the trail, but during our stay 
at the ranch the rainfall was so great that every little hollow 
in the ground held water, and a tortoise could get a drink any- 
where. 
One afternoon, while standing under a tree during a heavy 
downpour, I was surprised to see a big tortoise come slowly 
down the hill through the wet grass, walk into a rapidly-forming 
pool of water, take a long drink, and then lie down in the pool. 
When he settled down the depth of the water was only two 
inches, but in a few minutes it had increased to eight inches, and 
he seemed entirely content, until his attention was attracted to 
a female tortoise, which also came to the pool to drink. That 
attraction was the stronger, so he left the water and set out to 
make her acquaintance. 
After the rain had ceased, I went down the trail some distance 
