TORTOISES AND TURTLES. 35 



whose feet are planted on the back of a still 

 more gigantic tortoise. What the tortoise took 

 its stand upon the legend does not so much as 

 hint at ! This old legend, like so many legends, 

 has a central particle of solid truth, inasmach as 

 large species of tortoise occur both in Europe 

 and North America, as far back as the Eocene, 

 one species, indeed, from the Siwalik Hills of 

 India having a carapace nearly six feet long. 



These ancient giants have long since ceased to 

 exist on the continents either of the Old or New 

 World. They were, says Dr Gunther, "unable to 

 survive the changes of climate in the northern 

 latitudes, or to coexist with the large carnivora, 

 and especially with man, in the more congenial 

 south. But there were two spots on the earth's 

 surface where they continued to flourish to 

 within a century or two of our time viz. Mada- 

 gascar and the neighbouring islands of the 

 Western Indian Ocean, and the Galapagos 

 Archipelago in the easternmost part of the 

 Pacific." 



They do not appear to have lived in Mada- 

 gascar within historic times, having probably 

 been cleared off from the inhabited parts of the 

 island at the time when the first Europeans 

 landed. But their skeletons occur in consider- 

 able numbers throughout the island. 



In the islands north of Madagascar, however, 

 these creatures dwelt in absolute security for 

 ages, none of these islands, save the Comoro 

 group, being inhabited either by man or large 

 mammalia. As a consequence, with absolute 

 freedom from enemies, they had nothing to do 



