THE DESERT TORTOISE 261 



swallowing it half-chewed like an oyster, but 

 as to getting a feast out of one of the hard- 

 carapaced adults, I am more doubtful. It 

 seems he might as well chew rocks. We can 

 well fancy the chuckling sense of pleasure the 

 tortoise, knowing his safety, has when he finds 

 himself rolled over and over and pawed about 

 by the foolish dog simpleton, or feels the long 

 sharp-fanged canine jaws harmlessly biting, 

 but never making more than a mere impression 

 on the hard-shelled armament. We can with 

 imagination's aid see the outwitted coyote 

 finally leaving the tortoise in disgust and yowl- 

 ing in similar vein to the foolish fox who un- 

 successfully attempted to rob the vineyard, 

 "Oh, I never did like tortoise meat, anyway." 

 But though the chelonian has been unharmed 

 by the coyote's jaws, woe may yet overtake 

 him if by some unhappy chance the coyote on 

 departing should have left him lying flat on his 

 back on some perfectly barren level spot: his 

 end must now be death through starvation and 

 exposure. The shell of his back is so high- 

 domed that, struggle as he may, he cannot get 

 his clumsy feet to the ground to turn himself 



