Gigantic Tortoises, 107 



what careful estimate made by him resulted in 

 showing that in the entire archipelago there were 

 probably not less than two thousand craters. On 

 Chatham Island Darwin camped, surrounded by 

 black truncated cones, which were so numerous that 

 he counted sixty from one spot. 



As the name suggests, the islands are called after 

 the large tortoises which abound there, and it was 

 not long before several were found by Darwin, who 

 estimated their weight at two hundred pounds each. 

 One was feeding upon some cactus and hardly no- 

 ticed him. Some of the tortoises attained to large 

 size, specimens being heard of which required eight 

 men to lift and afforded two hundred pounds of 

 meat alone. 



One of the first peculiarities on Chatham Island 

 noticed by the naturalist was the lanes and paths 

 which led in every direction. These were the trails 

 worn by the island giants. The springs to which 

 the animals were obliged to crawl for water were 

 situated in the interior, and here he had an opportu- 

 nity to watch them wallowing about and covering 

 themselves up in the mud. 



To test the speed of the turtles, Darwin watched 

 one for some time, and found that it walked at the 

 rate of one hundred and eighty feet in ten minutes, 

 or 1, 080 feet in an hour, or at a rate of four miles per 

 day. To show the strength of the animal, he states 

 that he frequently stood upon the back of one and 

 struck it, whereupon it would move away, generally 

 throwing him off. 



Chatham Island and its life had a peculiar interest 



