538 THE CHELYS MATAMATA. 



with their trenchant beaks, not letting go till they have taken 

 the piece out. The females are said to be far more numerous 

 than the males ; indeed, Father Gumilla, describing the turtles 

 of the Orinoco, states what might be doubted, that " in each 

 nest of eggs there is one, larger than the rest, from which the 

 male is hatched. All the others are females." The eggs are 

 spherical ; their shell solid, but membraneous or slightly cal- 

 careous. 



A further description of them will be given when the mode 

 in which they are captured is described. The species, how- 

 ever, deserves particular notice. 



THE CHELYS MATAMATA. 



Grotesque, and unlike what we fancy a reality, such as 

 those creatures which the wild imagination of the painters of 



THE CHELYS MATAMATA. 



bygone days delighted in producing, is the curious matamata 

 (Chelys matamata), found along the banks of the Amazon, as 



