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ated in the Indian Ocean, and comprise Aldabra, to the northwest of Madagascar, 

 and the Mascarene group including Reunion, Mauritius, and Rodrigues lying 

 to the east of the same; while the third or Galapagos group, taking its name from 

 the Spanish word for tortoise, is situated in the far distant South Pacific, off the 

 western coast of South America. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, 

 the tortoises are stated to have existed in enormous numbers in all the above-named 

 islands; but as they afforded a most valuable supply of food, and could be kept alive 

 on board ship, their numbers were rapidly reduced in those of the Indian Ocean, and 

 Aldabra is now the only island in that area where they still exist in a wild state. 

 Many of these tortoises were, however, exported to the Seychelles, and it is 

 believed, as we shall notice below, that one carried thence to the Mauritius is the 

 only living example of the species that formerly inhabited Rodrigues. Regarding 

 the abundance of these tortoises in the latter island, Francois L,eguat, writing 



\\ 



EI.EPHANT TORTOISE. 



in 1691 , observes that ' 'there are such plenty of land turtles in this isle, that sometimes 

 you see three thousand of them in a flock, so that you may go above a hundred 

 paces on their backs." In Mauritius they were still abundant in 1740; but about 

 1761 they were probably scarcer, as thousands were then imported from Rodrigues 

 as food for the patients in the hospitals of the Mauritius. The continued exporta- 

 tion, some ships taking as many as four hundred at a time, coupled with the de- 

 struction of their eggs and young, finally led to their extermination in both 

 Mauritius and Rodrigues; this extirpation having probably taken place early in the 

 present century. The Reunion tortoise, of which very little is known, seems to 

 have disappeared at a still earlier date, while of the Galapagos species, we shall 

 speak later. 



The total number of species of giant tortoises known to have existed within the 

 historic period is about fourteen, the whole of which are characterized by their large 

 size, their long necks, and the uniform dark brown or black color of their shells. 



