THE MATAMATA. 15 



In many of the northern cities they are brought in numbers to market and are es- 

 teemed excellent food, though I think that they are far inferior to the green turtle, the 

 soft- shelled, or even several of the emydes. They are kept for months in tubs of fresh 

 water, and feed on such offal as may be given them, though they never become fat or 

 increase much in weight." 



Though a very valuable and curious reptile, the Alligator Terrapin is far from 

 beautiful, with its little dusky shell, its long knob-covered tail, its singular legs and 

 feet, and its great sharply toothed jaws. On account of its habit of snapping fiercely 

 at its opponents, it is often called by the name of Snapping Turtle, a title, however, 

 which rightly belongs to a species which will shortly be described. 



Its head is large and covered with a hard wrinkled skin ; the neck is long, thick, and 

 furnished with a number of projecting tubercles. Under the chin are two distinct bar- 

 bels. When adult, the shell is so formed that a depression runs along the centre, 

 leaving a kind of keel at each side of the central line ; but when young, the shell forms 



ALLIGATOR TERRAPIN. Chelfdra serpeatina. 



three distinct keels. It is rather flat, oblong, and at the hinder portion is deeply cleft, 

 so as to form a row of blunt teeth, but while young the teeth are sharp. The tail is 

 stout, long, and is furnished with a series of large blunt tubercles along its central line. 



WE now arrive at another family of Tortoises, termed Chelydes, an example of which 

 is the remarkable MATAMATA, the acknowledged type of its family. 



All the Chelydes have broad flattened heads, long broad contractile necks, and when 

 in repose have a curious custom of bending their necks under the side of the carapace. 

 Their feet are webbed in order to enable them to pass rapidly through the water, and 

 there is always a lobe between the claws. They are aquatic Tortoises, carnivorous, 

 and voracious, and only feed while in the water. When swimming, the whole of the 

 shell is kept below the surface. 



The Matamata is certainly the most remarkable of aspect among all the Tortoises, 

 and perhaps may lay claim to be considered one of the oddest-looking animals in the 

 world, far exceeding in its grotesque ungainliness even the wild and weird creations of 

 the middle-age painters. 



