332 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Proc. 4th Ser. 



General remarks. — The tortoises of Tagus Cove Mountain 

 and vicinity are very different from those of the northern end 

 of Albemarle Island. The males have low shells with flat 

 backs, the front of the carapace being but little below the level 

 of the middle of the back. The shell is thin and light. These 

 tortoises bear most resemblance to those of Chatham Island 

 and the T. guntheri of southeastern Albemarle. The males 

 from Cape Rose seem to be absolutely identical with those 

 from Tagus Cove. 



Field Notes. — March 23, 1906. — Anchored at Tagus Cove. 

 Beck and King went ashore to hunt for tortoises. Beck found 

 two. One of these he skinned and brought on board this even- 

 ing. It is a male. 



March 24, 1906. — Went in with King to get the tortoise 

 found yesterday. The country in the vicinity of the cove is 

 somewhat barren, and, on the hillsides and in the valleys, 

 several fresh lava-flows can be seen that have no vegetation 

 at all. The place where we saw the signs of tortoises is a val- 

 ley about a mile from the shore. Most of it was grown over 

 with brush, but thick only in places. We saw several old 

 skeletons with the bones crumbled to dust. There were no 

 fresh signs of tortoises, other than the two found. The one 

 we got today was at the farther end of the valley, right on 

 the edge of a barren lava-flow. While King and I got this 

 one out, Mr. Beck went hunting for more tortoises, and 

 found a large male at the foot of the mountain and directly 

 opposite the cove. I suppose we shall go in for him tomorrow. 



March 25-31, 1906. — Worked on tortoises up on the moun- 

 tain all the week. We found no fresh trails in the valley, 

 so went up the mountain, which presents a similar appearance 

 as regards growth of trees, etc. There are two large lava- 

 flows extending down the mountain sides, with green patches 

 on them, and some of these were well cut up with tortoise 

 trails. The tortoises work all through the brush on the moun- 

 tain side, and it cannot be said that they are rare ; but it is so 

 much work to get them, that people report them scarce. The 

 females, however, appear to be rare, as none have been found 

 by us so far. They are smaller than the males and have 

 more fat, so that they probably have been killed by oil-hunters 

 when they came down into the valley. All the tortoises we 



