622 LAND TORTOISES IN THE SEYCHELLES. 



head, which had the eyes and ears closed, was shaped very much 

 like that of a wolf-pup. The tail was short-haired and tapering 

 and as long as the body from the fore part of the shoulders 

 backwards. 



Special attention was drawn to a peculiar abnormality of the 

 left fore-leg (text-fig. 147). The humerus appeared to be of 

 normal length, but the lower arm was quite short, and there was 

 no distinct elbow-joint ; the paw, although freely articulated at 

 the wrist, was axially rotated outwards so that its plantar surface 

 looked inwards. It was furnished with a single large pad repre- 

 senting the large pad of the normal foot, and was armed with a 

 terminal claw, a thin strip of naked skin passing from the claw to 

 the pad. 



[JVote added July 17 th, 1911. — The two specimens of the litter 

 that suiwived grew with great rapidity as compared with dogs and 

 cats, and almost equalled the size of their parents when tlu-ee 

 months old. Their eyes, however, opened, as in the former 

 animals, about the ninth day from birth.] 



Land Tortoises in the Seychelles. 



The Secretary read the following dispatch from the Governor 

 of the Seychelles, a copy of which had been kindly sent him by 

 the Secretary of State for the Colonies, for communication to the 

 Society. 



Government House, 

 Seychelles, 



1st June, 1910. 



My Lord, 



In view of enquiries made from time to time regarding 

 the conservation of the breed of land tortoises of the islands in 

 the Indian Ocean, I have the honour to append some notes 

 condensed from the entries in the stud-book of the herd at 

 Government House, Mahe. This book was opened by me soon 

 after my arrival here in 1904, and contains records of the annual 

 measurements of the specimens under my observation and of 

 their habits. 



2. In June 1904 I found a herd of 42 adult land toi^toises, and 

 17 young ones hatched out in 1902 and 1903 ; these were dulj'^ 

 marked, numbered and measured, and the particulais entered up 

 in a new stud-book. The bulk of the herd had been purchased 

 for the Government in 1892 from the late Mr. Nageon del'Estang 

 of Yal des Pres, a proprietor of ancient family in the district of 

 Anse Aux Pins, Mahe. The animals were then transferred to 

 Curieuse Island, the property of the Crown, and were brought 

 back to Government House in 1902. 



3. In addition to this herd, there ai-e two large males : No. 1 . 

 " Gordon," presented by the late General Gordon (of Khartoum) 

 when he was stationed in Seychelles in 1881 after his transfer 

 from the Cape ; this is the largest land tortoise in Seychelles, and 

 measures over the sui-face of the carapace 4' 9|" and 4' 8". The 



