goes to bed in the longest days at four in the after- 

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

 Besides, it retires to rest for every shower ; and 

 does not move at all on wet days. 



When one reflects on the state of this strange 

 being, it is a matter of wonder to find that Provi- 

 dence 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 

 afternoon, with the thermometer at fifty, brought 

 forth troops of shell-snails, and, at the same junc- 

 ture, the tortoise heaved up the mould and put 

 out his head ; and the next morning came forth, 

 as it were raised from the dead ; and walked about 

 till four in the afternoon. This was a curious coin- 

 cidence ! a very amusing occurrence ! to see such 

 a similarity of feelings between the two (fyepeoiKotl 

 for so the Greeks call both the shell-snail and the 

 tortoise. 



Because we call '' the old family tortoise " an 

 abject reptile, we are too apt to undervalue his abili- 

 ties, and depreciate his powers of instinct. Yet he 

 is, as Mr. Pope says of his lord, 



'• — — — Much too wise to walk into a well : " 

 138 



