188 METHOD OF DEPOSITING THE EGGS. 



eure to the sun favours the laying of the eggs. The arram 

 are found on the beach a great part of the day during the 

 whole month of February. At the beginning of March the 

 straggling troops assemble, and swim towards the small num- 

 ber of islands on which they habitually deposit their eggs. 

 It is probable that the same tortoise returns every year to 

 the same locality. At this period, a few days before they 

 lay their eggs, thousands of these animals may be seen 

 ranged in long files, on the borders of the islands of Cucu- 

 ruparu, Uruana, and Pararuma, stretching out their necks 

 and holding their heads above water, to see whether they 

 have anything to dread. The Indians, who are anxious that 

 the bands when assembled should not separate, that the 

 tortoises should not disperse, and that the laying of the 

 eggs should be performed tranquilly, place sentinels at cer- 

 tain distances along the shore. The people who pass in 

 boats are told to keep in the middle of the river, and not 

 frighten the tortoises by cries. The laying of the eggs 

 takes place always during the night, and it begins soon after 

 sunset. "With its hind feet, which are very long, and fur- 

 nished with crooked claws, the animal digs a hole of three 

 feet in diameter and two in depth. These tortoises feel so 

 pressing a desire to lay their eggs, that some of them 

 descend into holes that have been dug by others, but which 

 are not yet covered with earth. There they deposit a new 

 layer of eggs on that which has been recently laid. In this 

 tumultuous movement an immense number of eggs are 

 broken. The missionary showed us, by removing the sand 

 in several places, that this loss probably amounts to a fifth 

 of the whole quantity. The yolk of the broken eggs con- 

 tributes, in drying, to cement the sand ; and we found very 

 large concretions of grains of quartz and broken shells. 

 The number of animals working on the beach during the 

 night is so considerable, that day surprises many of them 

 before the laying of their eggs is terminated. They are 

 then urged on by the double necessity of depositing their 

 eggs, and closing the holes they have dug, that they may 

 not be perceived by the jaguars. The tortoises that thus 

 remain too late are insensible to their own danger. They 

 work in the presence of the Indians, who visit the beach 



