262 TOETOISE. 



turned it out on a border, it walked twice down to the bottom 

 of my garden : however, in the evening, the weather being 

 cold, it buried itself in the loose mould, and continues still 

 concealed. 



As it will be under my eye, I shall now have an oppor- 

 tunity of enlarging my observations on its mode of life and 

 propensities ; and perceive already, that, towards the time of 

 coming forth, it opens a breathing-place in the ground near 

 its head, requiring, I conclude, a freer respiration as it 

 becomes more alive. This creature not only goes under the 

 earth from the middle of November to the middle of April, 

 but sleeps great part of summer ; for it goes to bed, in the 

 longest days, at four in the afternoon, and often does not 

 stir in the morning till late. Besides, it retires to rest for 

 every shower, and does not move at all in wet days.* 



When one reflects on the state of this strange being, it is 

 a matter of wonder to find that Providence should bestow 

 such a profusion of days, such a seeming waste of longevity, 

 on a reptile that appears to relish it so little as to squander 

 more than two-thirds of its existence in a joyless stupor, and 

 be lost to all sensation for months together in the profoundest 

 of slumbers. 



While I was writing this letter, a moist and warm after- 

 noon, with the thermometer at 50, brought forth troops of 



* Iu Mr. White's unpublished MS., I find the following notices of Timothy, 

 the tortoise, for so Mr. White called it. 



" March 17th. Brought away Mrs. Snooke's old tortoise, Timothy, which 

 she valued very much, and had treated kindly for forty years. When dug out 

 of its hybernaculum, it resented the insult by hissing. 



" May 14th. Timothy travelled about the garden. 



" May 2nd. Timothy eats. 



" March 15th. Timothy comes forth, and weighs 61b. 5^ oz. 



" June 4th. Timothy took his usual ramble, and could not be confined 

 within the limits of the garden. His pursuits, which seem of the amorous 

 kind, transport him beyond the bounds of his usual gravity. 



" Sept. 1 7th. When we call loudly through the speaking-trumpet to Timothy, 

 he does not seem to regard the noise." 



There are many other notices of Timothy, too long for insertion. He 

 appears to have been weighed at certain times ; to have been immersed in 

 water to see if he was amphibious, and was evidently much alarmed at finding 

 himself out of his element, and there is a humorous and entertaining letter, 

 which Mr. White composed for him, to Miss Becky Mulso, dated from 

 his border under the fruit wall in 1784, and signed, " Your sorrowful reptile, 

 Timothy." ED. 



