318 



DE. HANS GADOW ON EEMAINS OE SOME GIGANTIC 



All these specimens are extremely thick and heavy, in every respect different from 

 the plastra of T. triserrata and T. sauzieri. The greatest width of fragment E is 38 cm. 



The fact that they have been found in the Mare aux Songes, together with the other 

 Tortoise material, excludes the possibility of their having been introduced by Man. 



Tabular Comparison of the Forked Plastra D, E, F, G of Mauritius with Plastra of 

 Aldabra Tortoises. (+ means agreement, — means difference.) 



i 



T. sumeirei (PI. XLIV.). — The indigenous existence in Mauritius of Tortoises with 

 a double gular and with a long forked plastron having been proved, it is quite within 

 the range of probability that the solitary specimen which is still living in that island 

 is a native and not an imported creature. 



Mr. Sauzier has given a description, with photographic views, of this specimen in 

 ' La Nature,' no. 1016, 19 novembre, 1892, pp. 395-398, and he has distinguished it 

 as Testudo sumeird, in honour of M. Camille Sumeire, of Mauritius. Mr. Sauzier has 

 presented to us several of the original photographs of this Tortoise, accompanied by 

 the following notes : — 



" Lors de la conquete de ITle de France (Maurice), le 3 decembre 1810, il existait 

 dans la cour des casernes de I'Artillerie, a Port Louis, une gigantesque tortue de terre, 

 qui a fait partie du materiel laisse aux Anglais. 



" Cette bete vit encore dans cette meme cour, dont les batiments ont ete convertis 

 en mess pour les officiers. 



" II est facile de voir, par son aspect general, qu'elle doit etre d'un grand age. Si, en 



1810, d'apres les plus anciens habitants, elle avait atteaue sa taille actuelle, ou/peu 



' kpres, elle aurait pour'moins deux siecles — ce qui ne I'empeche pas, bien qu'aveugle 



depuis quelques annees, de porter avec aisance sur sa carapace deux hommes repre- 



sentantg ensemble le poids de 150 kilos. 



" II est a regretter que I'absence d'echelle [in the side-view photograph], ou mieux 

 encore, d'un objet de comparaison, dans la photographie, ne permette pas d'apprecier 

 exactement la taille de cette gigantesque tortue, dont on ne connait pas le lieu 

 d'origine." 



When walking this Tortoise stands 63*5 cm. high, leaving 15*5 cm. between the 

 ground and the plastron ; its carapace is grey and measures in its " grande circonfe- 

 rence" 259 cm. = 8 feet 6 inches, and 213 cm. " de circonference en largeur." The 



