166 OHELONIANS. 



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

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

 group we here represent Trionyx ^Egyptiacus, 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 Platemys cefipes) 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 o 

 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 flesh 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. 



