1835.] A CURIOUS OPERATION. 379 



the water in the pericardium, which is described as 

 being best. 



The tortoises, when purposely moving towards any point, 

 travel by night and day, and arrive at their journey's end 

 much sooner than would be expected. The inhabitants, 

 from observing marked individuals, consider that they 

 travel a distance 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, three hundred and sixty 

 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 

 jdie from accidents, as from falling down precipices : at 

 east 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 1 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 

 g'ot on their backs, and then giving a few raps on the hinder 

 ()art of their shells, they would rise up and walk away ; but 

 i found it very difficult to keep my balance. The flesh of 



lis animal is largely employed, both fresh and salted; and 



beautifully clear oil is prepared from the fat. When a 

 Mitoise 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 i( is not, the animal is liberated; 



