214 LEAVES FROM THE 



craters which there abound, the glowing heat of the day, 

 the rough surface of the ground, and the intricate 

 thickets, produced great fatigue; but, with the true 

 spirit of a naturalist, he says that he was well repaid by 

 the Cyclopian scene. He met two large tortoises, each 

 of which must have weighed at least 200 pounds. One 

 was eating a piece of cactus ; and when Mr. Darwin 

 approached it looked at him, and then quietly walked 

 away ; the other gave a deep hiss, and drew in his head. 

 Those huge reptiles, surrounded by the black lava and 

 large cacti, appeared to his fancy like some antediluvian 

 animals. Mr. Darwin was informed by Mr. Lawson, an 

 Englishman, who, at the time of his visit, had charge of 

 the colony, that he had seen several so large that it re- 

 quired six or eight men to lift them from the ground, 

 and that some had yielded as much as 200 pounds of 

 meat. The old males, readily distinguished by the 

 greater length of their tails — for that appendage is 

 always longer in the male than in the female — are the 

 largest, the females rarely growing to so great a size. 

 They prefer the high, damp parts of the islands, but also 

 inhabit the lower and arid districts. Those that live in 

 the islands where there is no water, or in the arid parts 

 of the others, feed chiefly on the cactus, whose succulent 

 nature compensates for the want of liquid.^ But those 

 which frequent the higher and moist regions, revel in a 

 diet of the leaves of various trees, a kind of acid austere 

 berr}^, called guayavita, and a pale green filamentous 

 lichen, hanging in tresses from the boughs of trees. It 

 must not, however, be concluded that these tortoises do 

 not care about water; for Mr. Darwin tells us that they 

 are very fond of it, drinking large quantities when they 

 can get it, and wallowing in the mud when they find it. 

 The larger islands alone, it appears, possess springs, which 

 are always situated towards the central parts, and at a 

 considerable elevation. The tortoises which frequent 



