NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 249 



middle of April, but sleeps great part of the summer ; for 

 it goes to bed in the longest days at four in the afternoon, 

 and often does not stir in the morning till late. Besides, 

 it retires to rest for every shower; and does not move at all 

 in wet days. 



When one reflects on the state of this strange being, it is 

 a matter of wonder to find that Providence should bestow 

 such a profusion of days, such a seeming waste of longevity, 

 on a reptile that appears to relish it so little as to squander 

 more than two-thirds of its existence in a joyless stupor' 

 and be lost to all sensation for months together in the 

 profoundest of slumbers. 



While I was writing this letter, a moist and warm after- 

 noon, with the thermometer at 50°, brought forth troops 

 of shell-snails ; and, at the same juncture, the tortoise 

 heaved up the mould and put out its head ; and the next 

 morning caiuo forth, as it were, raised from the dead ; and 

 walked about till four in the afternoon. This was a curious 

 coincidence ! a very amusing occurrence ! to see such a 

 similarity of feelings between the two (jiepcoLKoc ! for so the 

 Greeks called both the shell-snail and the tortoise. 



Summer birds are, this cold and backward spring, 

 unusually late : I have seen but one swallow yet. This 

 conformity with the weather convinces me more and more 

 that they sleep in the winter. 



More Particulars respecting the old Family Tortoise. 



Because we call this creature an abject reptile, we are too apt to 

 undervalue his abilities, and depreciate his powers of instinct. Yet he 

 is, as Mr. Pope says of his lord, 



" Much too wise to walk into a well : " 



and has so much discernment as not to fall down a haha, but to stop 

 and withdraw from the brink with the readiest precaution. 



