1835.] GREAT TORTOISE. 369 



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 accidents, as from falling down precipices : at least, several of 

 the inhabitants told me, that they had never found one dead with- 

 out 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 sec 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 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 suffi- 

 cient 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 

 inhabitant of the Galapagoes; for it is found on all, or nearly all, 

 the islands, even on some of the smaller ones where there is no 

 water ; had it been an imported species, this would hardly have 

 been the case in a group which has been so little frequented. 

 Moreover, the old Bucaniers found this tortoise in greater numbers 

 even than at present : Wood and Rogers also, in 1708, say that it 

 is the opinion of the Spaniards, that it is found nowhere else in 

 this quarter of the world. It is now widely distributed; but it 



2 B 



