3S4 GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. [chap, xvn 



tance of about eight miles in two or three days. One large 

 tortoise, which I watched, walked at the rate of sixty yards in 

 ten minutes, that is 360 yards in the hour, or four miles a day, — 

 allowing 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 a hundred yards. The female 

 never uses her voice, and the male only at these times ; so that 

 when the people hear this noise, they know that 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 hole : Mr. Bynoe found seven 

 placed in a fissure. The egg is white and spherical ; one which 

 I measured was seven inches and three-eighths in circumference, 

 and therefore larger than a hen's egg. The young tortoises, as soon 

 as they are hatched, fall a prey in great numbers to the carrion - 

 feeding buzzard. The old ones seem generally to die from acci- 

 dents, as from falling down precipices : at least, several of the 

 inhabitants told me, that they had never found one dead without 

 some evident 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 giving 

 a few raps on the hinder part of their shells, they would rise up 

 and walk away ? — but I found it very difficult to keep my ba- 

 lance. 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 get on their legs again. 



There can be little doubt that this tortoise is an aboriginal 



