REPTILES, SNAKES AND AMPHIBIANS EATEN AS FOOD. 217 



all tortoises is edible, for there are people who eat dif- 

 ferent kinds in various countries, but as the flesh of some 

 is better flavoured than others, those are necessarily 

 most sought after. 



1. The Land Tortoises (Testudo). — In Sicily and Italy 

 land tortoises (T. Grmcd) are sold in the markets princi- 

 pally for making soup, in which mode of cooking it is 

 more esteemed than prepared in any other way. The 

 flesh of the gopher, or Florida terrapin ( T. poVyphemiis, 

 Holbrook, T. Carolina, Lecomte), is said to be excellent, 

 and it is therefore sought after for the table. Certain 

 species of tortoises {Peltoastes, Chersina, and Homophus) 

 are eaten in the Cape Colony. 



Darwin gives a good account of the great elephantine 

 tortoise, which he terms T. indicus. 



The flesh of this animal is largely employed, both fresh 

 and salted, and a beautifully clear oil is prepared from 

 the fat. When a tortoise is caught the man makes a 

 slit in the skin near its tail, so as to see inside the body 

 whether the. fat under the dorsal plate is thick. If it is 

 not, the animal is liberated, and is said to recover soon 

 from this strange operation. 



While staying in the upper district of St. James's 

 Island, where a party of Spaniards were employed in 

 catching tortoises, Mr. Darwin and his companions lived 

 entirely on the meat of these animals. "The breast- 

 plate roasted with the flesh attached," he says, " is very 

 good, and the young tortoises make excellent soup, but 

 •otherwise the meat, to my taste, is very indifferent." 

 Some of the largest of the land tortoises of the Gallapagos 

 group weigh 300 or 400 pounds, but their common size 

 is between 50 and 100 pounds. Capt. B. Hall, " Extracts 

 of a Journal in Chili and Peru," gives a better opinion 

 of the meat : — " Their flesh without exception is of as 

 sweet and pleasant a flavour as any that I ever eat. It was 

 common to take out of one of them 10 or 12 pounds of 

 fat, when they were opened, besides what was necessary 

 to cook them with. This was as yellow as our best 

 Ijutter, and of a sweeter flavour than hog's lard." 



