1889.] Gigantic Land Tortoises. 1055 
white, and two and a half inches in diameter. They are far from 
being a deHcacy when cooked, as they are dry, tasteless, and the 
yolk is little better than saw-dust in the mouth" (p. 216). 
In regard to the difference of the tortoises from different Islands 
Porter makes the following remarks : " The shells of those of 
James Island are sometimes remarkably thin and easily broken, 
but more particularly so as they become advanced in age ; when, 
whether owing to the injuries they receive from their repeated 
falls in ascending and descending the mountain, or from injuries 
received otherwise, or from the course of nature, their shells be- 
come very rough, and peel off in large scales, which renders them 
very thin and easily broken. Those of James Island appear to 
be a species entirely distinct from those of Hood's and Charles 
Islands. The form of the shell of the latter is elongated, turning 
up forward in the manner of a Spanish saddle, of a brown color 
and of considerable thickness, They are very disagreeable to the 
sight, but far superior to those of James Island in point of fatness, 
and their livers are considered the greatest delicacy. Those of 
James Island are round, plump, and black as ebony, some of them 
handsome to the eye, but their liver is black, hard when cooked, 
and the flesh altogether not so highly esteemed as the others" 
(pp. 2 14, 2 1 5). The tortoises of Hood's Island " were of a quality 
far superior to those found on James Island. They were similar 
in appearance to those of Charles Island, very fat and delicious" 
(P-233)- 
After his cruise round the Galapagos Porter proceeded to the 
Marquesas Islands. On Madison Island he " distributed from his 
stock several young tortoises among the chiefs, and permitted a 
great many to escape into the bushes and among the grass" 
(Vol. II., p. 104.) 
In 1825 Capt. Benjamin Morrell visited the Islands, having 
been there already in 1823 from the 3d of October to the 2d 
of December, during which time he took not less than about five 
thousand fur-seal skins. The tortoises, he says, " grow to even a 
greater size than that mentioned by Commodore Porter, as I have 
seen some that would weigh from six to eight hundred pounds. 
They are excellent food, and have no doubt saved the lives of 
