172 TORTOISE. 



for more than thirty years, it hobbles towards its 

 benefactress with awkward alacrity ; but remains 

 inattentive to strangers. Thus not only " the ox 

 knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib 1 ," 

 but the most abject reptile and torpid of beings 

 distinguishes the hand that feeds it, and is touched 

 with the feelings of gratitude. 



P.S. In about three days after I left Sussex, 

 the tortoise retired into the ground under the 

 hepatica 2 . 



1 Isaiah i. 3. 



2 Tortoises are often kept in gardens as a curiosity, 

 where they continue perfectly healthy, and arrive at an 

 almost incredible age. When kept in the stove or green- 

 house, their torpidity does not take place, although at the 

 annual period of its occurrence they are generally noticed 

 for a short time to be more restless and irritable. The 

 following are some remarkable instances of longevity 

 recorded by Mr. Murray, in his Experimental Researches : 

 In the Library of Lambeth palace is the shell of a land 

 tortoise, brought there about the year 1623 ; it lived until 

 1730, a period of 107 years. Another was placed in the 

 garden of the episcopal palace of Fulham, by Bishop 

 Laud, in 1625, and died in 1753 128 years : the age 

 at which these were placed in the gardens was of course 

 unknown. Another is mentioned 220 years, and one in 

 Exeter Change 800 ; the latter, however, does not seem 

 well authenticated, though there can be no doubt of the 

 period of their existence being very extensive. Mr. Murray 

 has added some very interesting information regarding the 

 habits of a tortoise kept at Peterborough : 



" From a document belonging to the archives of the 

 Cathedral, called the Bishop's Barn, it is well ascertained 

 that the tortoise at Peterborough must have been about 

 220 years old. Bishop Marsh's predecessor in the see 

 of Peterborough had remembered it above sixty years, and 

 could recognise no visible change. He was the seventh 

 bishop who had woin the mitre during its sojourn there. 

 If I mistake not, its sustenance and abode were provided for 

 in this document. Its shell was perforated, in order to at- 

 tach it to a tree, &c.., to limit its ravages among the straw- 

 berry borders. 



" The 



