Oct. 1835. 



TORTOISE. 



463 



greater length of its tail. The tortoises which live on those 

 islands where there is no water^ or in the lower and arid 

 parts of the others^ chiefly feed on the succulent cactus. 

 Those which frequent the higher and damp regions, eat the 

 leaves of various trees, a kind of berry (called guayavita) 

 which is acid and austere, and likewise a pale green 

 filamentous lichen, that hangs in tresses from the boughs 

 of the trees. 



The tortoise is very fond of water, drinking large quan- 

 tities, and wallowing in the mud. The larger islands alone 

 possess springs, and these are always situated towards the 

 central parts, and at a considerable elevation. The tortoises, 

 therefore, which frequent the lower districts, when thirsty, 

 are obliged to travel from a long distance. Hence broad and 

 well-beaten paths radiate off in every direction from the 

 wells even down to the sea-coast; and the Spaniards by 

 following them up, first discovered the watering-places. 

 When I landed at Chatham Island, I could not imagine 

 what animal travelled so methodically along the well- 

 chosen tracks. Near the springs it was a curious spectacle 

 to behold many of these great monsters; one set eagerly 

 travelling onwards with outstretched necks, and another 

 set returning, after having drunk their fiU. When the 

 tortoise arrives at the spring, quite regardless of any spec- 

 tator, it buries its head in the water above its eyes, and 

 greedily swallows great mouthfuls, at the rate of about ten in 

 a minute. The inhabitants say each animal stays three or 

 four days in the neighbourhood of the water, and then returns 

 to the lower country; but they differed in their accounts 

 respecting the frequency of these visits. The animal pro- 

 bably regulates them according to the nature of the food 

 which it has consumed. It is, however, certain, that 

 tortoises can subsist even on those islands where there is 

 no other water, than what falls during a few rainy days 

 in the year. 



I believe it is v/ell ascertained, that the bladder of the frog 



