E. 



THE GIGANTIC MASCAEENE TORTOISES. 



For many years Dr. Albert Gtiiither, of the British Museum, 

 ii]forms us, naturahsts were much exercised in curiosity by 

 the shells of tortoises of enormous size that were brought home 

 in vessels coming from India. ^ " From the greater convexity of 

 their shell, these animals were known to be terrestrial and 

 distinct from the marine turtles. From the accounts of voyagers 

 of the sixteenth and seventeenth century it was found that 

 these huge individuals of the Cheloniau order existed in two 

 widely separated regions, one being the Galapagos group in the 

 Pacific, the others being certain islands in the Indian Ocean ; 

 yet, curiously enough, it does not appear that the intervening 

 lands have contained within the historic period similar creatures. 

 Leguat (^vide ante, p. 70) mentions the immense numbers of 

 land tortoises he and his companions found in Rodriguez ; and, 

 indeed, when we consider that the helpless creatures lived for 

 ages in perfect security from all enemies, and that nature had 

 endowed them with a most extraordinary degree of longevity, so 

 that the individuals of many generations lived simultaneously 

 in their island home, we can well account for the multitudes 

 found by the first comers. For a period of more than a century 

 they afforded wholesome food to the crews of passing ships; for 

 these animals coiild be carried in the hold of a ship without food 

 for many months, and could be slaughtered as occasion required, 

 each tortoise yielding from 80 to 300 pounds of fresh meat, and 

 we read that ships leaving Mauritius were wont to take on board 



upwards of 400 of these animals 



"Down to 1740 tortoises continued to be numerous in Mau- 

 ritius, as Baron Grant writes {History of Mauritius, p. 194): — " If, 



1 Philo!iO])hical Transactions, paper read before Royal Society, June 

 1874. 



