CHELONIA. 



CHELONIA. 



explores every wicket and interstice in the fences, through which he 

 will escape, if possible ; and often has eluded the care of the gardener, 

 and wandered to some distant field. The motives that impel him to 

 undertake these rambles seem to be of the amorous kind ; his fancy 

 then becomes intent on sexual attachments, which transport him 

 beyond his usual gravity, and induce him to forget for a time his 

 ordinary solemn deportment." 



Mr. Darwin in his ' Journal ' describes the habits of Testudo Jndica, 

 or rather one of the species that have been confounded under that 

 name, and, not improbably, the Testudo nigra of Quoy and Gaimard. 

 He speaks of their numbers as being very great, as indeed they always 

 seem to have bean, for he quotes Dampier, who states that they are 

 so numerous that five or six hundred men might subsist on them for 

 several months without any other sort of provisions, and describes 

 them as being so extraordinarily large and fat that no pullet eats 

 more pleasantly. The day on which Mr. Darwin visited the little 

 craters in the Galapagos Archipelago was glowing hot, and the scram- 

 bling over the rough surface and through the intricate thickets was 

 very fatiguing. " But," says Mr. Darwin, " I was well repaid by the 

 Cyclopian scene. In my walk I met two large tortoises, each of 

 which must have weighed at least two hundred pounds. One was 

 eating a piece of cactus, and 1 when I approached it looked at me, and 

 then quietly walked away ; the other gave a deep hiss and drew in his 

 head. These huge reptiles, surrounded by the black lava, the leafless 

 shrubs, and large cacti, appeared to my fancy like some antediluvian 

 animals." 



Mr. Darwin states his belief that these tortoises are found in all 

 the islands of the Archipelago ; certainly in the greater number, and 

 thus continues his description : " They frequent, in preference, the 

 high damp parts, but likewise inhabit the lower and arid districts. 

 Some individuals grow to an immense size. Mr. Lawson, an English- 

 man, who had, at the time of our visit, charge of the colony, told us 

 that he had seen several o large that it required six or eight men to 

 lift them from the ground, and that some had afforded as much as 

 two hundred pounds of meat. The old males are the largest, the 

 females rarely growing to so great a size. The male can readily be 

 distinguished from the female by the greater length of its tail. The 

 tortoises which live on those islands where there is no water, or in 

 the lower and arid parts of the others, chieBy feed on the succulent 

 cactus. Those which frequent the higher and damp regions eat the 

 leaves of various trees, a kind of berry (called guayavita) which is 

 acid and austere, and likewise a pale green filamentous lichen, that 

 hangs in tresses from the boughs of the trees. 



" The tortoise is very fond of water, drinking large quantities, and 

 wallowing in the mud. The larger islands alone possess springs, and 

 these are always situated towards the central parts, and at a consi- 

 derable elevation. The tortoises, therefore, which frequent the lower 

 districts, when thirsty are obliged to travel from a long distance. 

 Hence, broad and well-beaten paths radiate off in every direction from 

 the wells even down to the sea-coast ; and the Spaniards, by following 

 them up, first discovered the watering-places. When I landed at 

 Chatham Island, I could not imagine what animal travelled so 

 methodically along the well-chosen tracks. Near the springs it was a 

 curious spectacle to behold many of these great monsters ; one set 

 eagerly travelling onwards with outstretched necks, and another set 

 returning, after having drunk their fill. When the tortoise arrives at 

 the spring, quite regardless of any spectator, it buries its head in the 

 water above its eyes, and greedily swallows great mouthfuls, at the 

 rate of about ten in a minute. The inhabitants say that each animal 

 stays three or four days in the neighbourhood of the water, and then 

 returns' to the lower country ; but they differed in their accounts 

 respecting the frequency of these visits. The animal probably regu- 

 lates them according to -the nature of the food which it has consumed. 

 It is however certain that tortoises can subsist even on those islands 

 where there i no other water than what falls during a few rainy days 

 in the year. 



" I believe it is well ascertained that the bladder of the frog acts 

 as a reservoir for the moisture necessary to its existence : such seems 

 to be the case with the tortoise. For some time after a visit to the 

 springs, the urinary bladder of these animals is distended with fluid, 

 which is said gradually to decrease in volume and to become less pure. 

 The inhabitants, when walking in the lower district, and overcome 

 with thirst, often take advantage of this circumstance, by killing a 

 tortoise, and if the bladder is full, drinking its contents. In one I 

 saw killed, the fluid was quite limpid, and had only a very slightly 

 bitter taste. The inhabitants however always drink first the water in 

 the pericardium, which is described as being best. The tortoises, 

 when moving towards any definite point, travel by night and by 

 day, and arrive at their journey's end much sooner than would be 

 expected. The inhabitants, from observations on marked individuals, 

 consider that they can move a distance of about eight miles in two 

 or three days. One large tortoise which I watched, I found walked 

 at the rate of 60 yard* in 10 minutes, that is, 360 yards in the hour, or 

 four miles a day allowing also 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 100 yards. The female never 

 uses her voice, and the male only at such times ; so that when the 



people hear this noise, they know the two are together. They were 

 at this time (October) laying their eggs. The female, where the soil 

 is sandy, deposits them together, and covers them up with sand ; but 

 where the ground is rocky, she drops them indiscriminately in any 

 hollow. Mr. Bynoe found seven placed in a line in a fissure. The 

 egg is white and spherical ; one which I measured was 7jf inches in 

 circumference. The young animals, as soon as they are hatched, fall 

 a prey in great numbers to the buzzard with the habits of the cara- 

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

 falling down precipices. At least several of the inhabitants told me 

 they had never found one dead without some such apparent 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, upon giving a few raps on the hinder part 

 of the shell, 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 body, whether the 

 fat under the dorsal plate is thick. If it is not, the animal is liberated ; 

 and it is said to recover soon from this strange operation. In order 

 to secure the tortoises, it is not sufficient to turn them like turtle, 

 for they are often able to regain their upright position. 



" It was confidently asserted that the tortoises coming from 

 different islands, in the Archipelago were slightly different in form ; 

 and that in certain islands they attained a larger average size than in 

 others. Mr. Lawson maintained that he could at once tell from 

 which island any one was brought. Unfortunately, the specimens 

 which came home in the ' Beagle ' were too small to institute any 

 certain comparison. This tortoise, which goes by the name of Tettudo 

 Indica, is at present found in many parts of the world. It is the 

 opinion of Mr. Bell, and some others who have studied reptiles, that 

 it is not improbable that they all originally came from this Archi- 

 pelago. When it is known how long these islands have been frequented 

 by the buccaniers, and that they constantly took away numbers of 

 these animals alive, it seems very probable that they should have 

 distributed them in different parts of the world. If this tortoise does 

 not originally come from these islands, it is a remarkable anomaly ; 

 inasmuch as nearly all the other land inhabitants seem to have their 

 birthplace here." 



In his travels in Lycia, Professor E. Forbes gives the following 

 account of the Tortoise : " Among Lycian reptiles," he says, " the 

 Tortoise (Testudo Gr&ca and marginata) is the most conspicuous and 

 abundant. The number of these animals straying about the plains 

 and browsing on, the fresh herbage in spring, astonishes the traveller. 

 In April they commence love-making. Before we were aware of the 

 cause, we were often surprised, when wandering among ruins and 

 waste places, at hearing a noise as if some invisible geologist was 

 busily occupied close by trimming his specimens. A search in the 

 direction of the noise discovered the hammer in the shape of a 

 gentleman tortoise, who, not being gifted with vocal powers, endeavoured 

 to express the warmth of his affection to his lady-love by rattling his 

 shell against her side. The ardour of the tortoise is celebrated by 

 . K 1 i ;u L In ditches and stagnant waters the Fresh- Water Tortoise (Emyt 

 Carpica) is equally plentiful. In fine weather long rows of them may 

 be seen sunning themselves on the banks ; whence, on being alarmed, 

 they would waddle and plunge with great rapidity into the water, 

 apparently always following a leader, who made the first plunge from 

 one end of the row." 



The Tortoise lives to a great age. White relates that one was kept 

 in a village till it was supposed to be 1 00 years old, and it is conjectured 

 that the patriarchs of the Galapagos Islands exceed that age. 



T. tulcata Will serve for an illustration of this genus : it is the 

 species assigned to Africa and America with a ?. M. de Orbigny is 



Testudo tulcata. 



stated to have himself collected the young of Testudo mlcnta in 

 Patagonia, where, according to him, the species is very common. 

 Messrs. Dumenl and Bibron declare that other specimens come without 

 doubt from Africa. 



