166 CHELONIANS. 



Amazon rivers, in America, tlie Euphrates and the Ganges, in 

 Asia, are its habitats. Among other remarkable species in the 

 group we here represent Trionyx ^gyptiacus, Fig. 39, supposed 

 to be the E^avs of Aristotle. 



No modern naturalist has done more to illustrate the habits of 

 the Fresh-water Turtle than Mr. Bates, in his highly interesting 

 work, " The Naturalist on the Amazon," " The great Fresh- 

 water Turtle (probably Platermjs (sfipes) of the Amazon or 

 Solimoens grows on the upper river," he says, " to an immense 

 size, a full-grown one measuring nearly three feet in length, by 

 two in breadth, and is a load for the strongest Indian. Every 

 house (in Ega) has a little pond called a corral, or pen in the 

 back-yard, to hold a stock of these animals through the season of 

 dearth — the wet months. Those who have a number of Indians in 

 their employ send them out for weeks, when the waters are low, 

 to collect a stock, and those who have not purchase their 

 supply — this is attended with some difficulty however, as they 

 are rarely offered for sale. The price of Turtles, like that of 

 other articles of food, has risen greatly since the introduction 

 of steam-vessels. Thus, when I arrived, in 1850, a middle-sized 

 one could be bought for ninepence, but when I left, in 1859, they 

 were with difficulty obtained for eight or nine shillings each. 

 The abundance of Turtles varies with the amount of diurnal subsi- 

 dence of the waters. When the river sinks less than the average, 

 they are scarce ; but when high waters have prevailed, they can 

 be caught in abundance, their haunts being less restricted, and 

 appropriate breeding-places more numerous. 



" The jQesh is very tender, palatable, and wholesome ; but it is 

 very cloying, and every one ends sooner or later by becoming 

 thoroughly surfeited. I became so sick of Turtle in the course of 

 two years that I could not bear the smell of it, although nothing 

 else was to be had ; consequently I suffered from actual hunger." 



One of the most amusing sketches in Mr. Bates' book is a journey 

 he made on the Solimoens, during which he visited the praias, or 

 sand-islands, the Turtle-pools in the forests, and the by-streams 

 and lakes of the great river. His companion was Cardozo, who 

 was a sort of official superintendent of the diggers for Turtles' eggs 

 on the sand-banks of Shimuni, the island lying nearest to Ega. 



