of the Galapagos Tortoise. 445 



'oni 



find water in the little lakes in the crevices of rocks. Fi 

 January to May, as the dry season advances, they return 

 again to the high ground where the trees are larger, vege- 

 tation more abundant and where springs may be found 

 issuing from the sides of the mountains. These waterino- 

 places become much frequented, and paths leadino- to 

 them may be traced for a great distance along the sides 

 of the hills ; and I have seen in many places, the rocks 

 worn away more than six feet in depth, and just suffi- 

 ciently wide to allow them room to pass. At these 

 springs hundreds of them are often seen at a time, waitino- 

 their turns to drink, or, becoming impatient, pile them- 

 selves one upon another, in their efforts to obtain water. 

 When satisfied, they again return by the little roads hewn 

 through the soft rocks and again disappear amid the thick 

 underwood.^' 



The following observations were made on our own 

 specimens. 



External characters. — -The male tortoise weighed at 

 the time of its death 302 lbs., having gained 17 lbs. dur- 

 ing the few weeks that it was in the possession of the 

 Society. The general outline and the form and number, 

 of the scuta are so well represented in Plate XL, as 

 scarcely to need any description ; of the vertebral there 

 are five, of the costal four on each side, of the Marginal 

 twenty-three and of the sternal sixteen. A remarkable 

 concavity of the sternum, which belongs to the sex, 

 could not be well represented, neither the slight depth of 

 the fun-ows between the scuta which in some places are 

 so faint as to be with difficulty traced. Surface of the 

 upper shell quite smooth, except near ihe edges of the 

 scuta, where are seen the remains of the concentric 

 lines, and of the lines which radiate from the angles of 



m 



