TIMOTHY THE TORTOISE 211 



and generally care for themselves. After taking an 

 airing, the little tortoises bury themselves, not showing 

 their faces again until spring comes. They are vege- 

 tarians by nature, living on such green food as lettuce 

 and clover-leaves, but the young ones sometimes will 

 tackle a slug. 



While the small tortoises which are kept in gardens 

 weigh only a few pounds, there are gigantic land 

 tortoises, hailing from islands in the Pacific Ocean, 

 which weigh as much as seven hundred pounds, and 

 could only be lifted from the ground by the efforts of 

 eight or nine men. 



In olden days every ship trading to such places as 

 the Galapagos Islands took tortoises on board, as a 

 matter of course, perhaps to the number of four 

 hundred. Countless thousands have been killed in 

 the past two hundred years ; but for ages before the 

 great creatures had lived in perfect peace, and had 

 multiplied to such an extent that explorers would be 

 able to walk perhaps for a hundred yards upon their 

 backs. These giant tortoises each will yield two or 

 three hundred pounds of wholesome meat, as well as 

 fine oil. 



Though so slow in their movements, and commonly 

 so lazy, when a tortoise sets out deliberately on a 

 journey, as when heading for water, it travels with 

 all the perseverance of the model tortoise of the fable 

 who beat the hare in the race, travelling day and night 

 with scarcely a pause. But even the giant tortoise 

 only progresses at the rate of sixty yards in ten 

 minutes, or about four miles a day, allowing a little 

 time for refreshment. 



