Vol. II, Pt. I] r.4\ DESBURGH— GALAPAGOS TORTOISES 225 



"The tortoises, when purposely moving toward any point, 

 travel by night and day, and arrive at their journey's end 

 much sooner than would be expected. The inhabitants, from 

 observing marked individuals, consider that they travel a 

 distance of about eight miles in two or three days. One large 

 tortoise, which I watched, walked at the rate of sixty yards 

 in ten minutes, that is 360 yards in the hour, or four miles a 

 day — allowing a little time for it to eat on the road. During 

 the breeding season, when the male and female are together, 

 the male utters a hoarse roar or bellowing, which, it is said, 

 can be heard at the distance of more than a hundred yards. 

 The female never uses her voice, and the male only at these 

 times ; so that when the people hear this noise they know that 

 the two are together. They were at this time (October) 

 laying their eggs. The female, when the soil is sandy, deposits 

 them together, and covers them up with sand ; but when the 

 ground is rocky she drops them indiscriminately in any hole: 

 Mr. Bynoe found seven placed in a fissure. The egg is white 

 and spherical ; one which I measured was seven inches and 

 three-eighths in circumference, and therefore larger than a 

 hen's egg. The young tortoises, as soon as they are hatched, 

 fall a prey in great numbers to the carrion-feeding buzzards. 

 The old ones seem generally to die from accidents, as from 

 falling down precipices : at least several of the inhabitants 

 told me that they had never found one dead without some 

 evident cause. 



"The inhabitants believe that these animals are absolutely 

 deaf; certainly they do not overhear a person walking close 

 behind them. I was always amused when overtaking one of 

 these great monsters, as it was quietly pacing along, to see 

 how suddenly, the instant I passed, it would draw in its head 

 and legs, and uttering a deep hiss fall to the ground with a 

 heavy sound, as if struck dead. I frequently got on their 

 backs, and then giving a few raps on the hinder part of their 

 shells, they would rise up and walk away — but I found it very 

 difficult to keep my balance. The flesh of this animal is 

 largely employed, both fresh and salted; and a beautifully 

 clear oil is prepared from the fat. When a tortoise is caught, 

 the man makes a slit in the skin near its tail, so as to see 

 inside its bodv, whether the fat under the dorsal plate is thick. 



