STARVING TORTOISES. 121 



out that the tortoise had really belonged to him, 

 as he proved by showing a little hole he had bored 

 through the shell in order to tether Master Jack 

 and prevent his straying away. The tortoise had 

 been the gift of a dear friend, and the loss of this 

 pet had been quite a sorrow in the family. " My 

 missus will cry for joy at seeing Jack again," said 

 the man ; and very glad was I to restore the 

 truant to his rightful owner, whose pet he had 

 been for four years. 



Although somewhat slow and inert, a tortoise is 

 quite worth keeping, and when well cared for, 

 properly fed, and taken notice of, it has a good 

 deal of a quaint sort of intelligence. The one I 

 now possess will feed from my hand, gives an 

 angry hiss when offended, will put on double quick 

 speed, when the door is opened, in order to elope 

 into the garden, and what mind he has is greatly 

 exercised about the lemurs. I judge this because 

 I so often find him gazing at them through the 

 wirework, his shell tilted at an angle as if he would 

 fain climb up to satisfy his curiosity. 



To the poor people who often visit my place 

 in summer, many of whom have never seen such 



