338 MOSTLY MAMMALS 



Passing on to the Aldabra tortoises, distinguished by 

 their short necks and the presence of a nuchal shield, we 

 have first to notice that the only member of the group 

 surviving in a wild state in its native habitat is the South 

 Aldabra Testudo daudini. Very remarkable is the history 

 of a male of this species received by Mr. Rothschild in 

 1897, which is the largest known example of modern giant 

 tortoises, the length of the carapace in a straight line 

 being no less than fifty-five inches, or only nineteen inches 

 short of the length assigned to that of the extinct T. atlas. 

 This monster, whose original home was South Aldabra, 

 lived for many years on Egmont Island, in the Chagos 

 group, whence it was taken by its owner, M. L. Antelme, 

 to Mauritius, and thence sent to England. It is currently 

 reported to have lived in Egmont for a century and a half, 

 but since the Chagos group was only colonised from 

 Mauritius in the early part of the last century, there is 

 some doubt as to the correctness of the statement. Any- 

 way, this tortoise must have been of a prodigious age at 

 the time of its death. During its sojourn on Egmont 

 Island this tortoise used to bury itself and become dormant 

 for half the year a most remarkable fact in a tropical 

 island. South Aldabra is a coral island very difficult to 

 traverse, so that it is no easy matter to obtain a sight of 

 the tortoises. Seven were, however, captured and exported 

 in 1895, of which six reached Europe alive. 



The second species of Aldabra tortoise (T. giganlea) 

 formerly inhabited the north and central islands in great 

 abundance, but is now known solely by individuals intro- 

 duced by the planters into the Seychelles, where they are 

 kept in a state of semi-domestication, and by a single 

 specimen in St. Helena. There appear to be two races of 

 this species namely, the typical form, in which the shell 



