538 



THE CHELYS MATAMATA. 



with their trenchant "beaks, not letting go till they have taken 

 the piece out. The females are said to be far more numerous 

 than the males ; indeed, Father Gumilla, describing the turtles 

 of the Orinoco, states what might be doubted, — that " in each 

 nest of eo-o-s there is one, larger than the rest, from which the 

 male is hatched. All the others are females." The eggs are 

 spherical ; their shell solid, but membraneous or slightly cal- 

 careous. 



A further description of them will be given when the mode 

 in which they are captured is described. The species, how- 

 ever, deserves particular notice. 



THE CHELYS MATAMATA. 

 Grotesque, and unlike what we fancy a reality, — such as 

 those creatures which the wild imagination of the painters of 



Tin: CHELYS MATAMATA. 



bygone days delighted in producing, — is the curious matamata 

 (Chelys matamata), found along the banks of the Amazon, aa 



