186 THE HABITS OF MALAY REPTILES. 
afungus. Their tenacity of life is, as in most tortoises, very 
great. I once brought one from Bukit Timah, where they are 
common, for the Museum, and on preparing its skeleton it was 
found that by some accident the carapace had broken clean 
across, and though the edges had not joined, the damage had 
been evidently repaired as well as possible some time previously. 
Afterwards I heard that some visitors to the bungalow had 
found one of these tortoises and carried it up to the top of the 
turret, whence it had fallen upon the gravel path, and though 
it seemed much injured, it managed to creep away, and I have 
little doubt that this must have been the same tortoise which 
had thus recovered from this severe injury. 
Cyclemys platynota, the flat-backed tortoise, is a rather 
larger animal, recognised by a peculiar flattening on the top of 
its shell. It is usually a very shabby, disreputable looking 
animal, with a dirty brown irregular carapace. It is less often 
noticed, as it is even more aquatic than the jungle tortoise, 
remaining under water most of its time. It seems to be abun- 
dant in the river at Selitar bungalow, where Dr, Hanitsch got 
several, and it has turned up in the Botanic Gardens, once in 
the Lake and once ina smaller pond, where it was devouring 
the waterlilies. In captivity it will eat rice, fish, leaves or 
fruit. 
The box-tortoise, Cyclemys amboinensis, is very common in 
the rice fields in Malacca, and used to be common in Singapore, 
but is now getting scarce here, as its haunts are being either 
drained or cultivated or built on. I have been told that 
it was formerly plentiful on the ground on which is now the 
Tanglin Market. It is a very pretty little tortoise with a very 
round back, black and smooth, the lower carapace yellow, and 
its head black with a bright yellow band on each side. The 
end plates of its under shell are jointed upon the others, so that 
it can close itself entirely within its carapace if alarmed, whence 
its name of box-tortoise. It is very fond of the water and often 
remains therein, only projecting its snake-like head above the 
surface. However, it often leaves the water and rambles about, 
especially in the evening, in search of food, and I have seen them 
run over by bullock carts on the roads in Malacca. They are 
very easily kept and are quite omnivorous, eating fish, boiled 
