480 



and membranous feet ; the head very flat, with two 

 fleshy and acutely-pointed appendages under the 

 chin ; five claws to the fore-feet, and four to the 

 hind feet, which are furrowed underneath. The 

 upper shell has five scutels in the centre, eight 

 lateral, and twenty-four marginal. The colour is 

 darkish gray above, and orange beneath. The feet 

 are also yellow, and very long. There is a deep 

 furrow between the eyes. The claws are very 

 strong and very crooked. The anus is placed at 

 the distance of one fifth from the extremity of 

 the tail. The full-grown animal weighs from 

 forty to fifty pounds. It's eggs, much larger 

 than those of pigeons, are less elongated than 

 the eggs of the terekay. They are covered with 

 a calcareous crust, and, it is said, have sufficient 

 firmness for the children of the Otomack Indians, 

 who are great players at ball, to throw them up 

 into the air from one to another to catch. If 

 the arrau inhabited the bed of the river above 

 the cataracts, the Indians of the Upper Oroonoko 

 would not travel so far, to procure the flesh and 

 the eggs of this tortoise. Yet formerly whole 

 tribes from the Atabapo and the Cassiquiare have 

 been known to pass the Raudales, in order to 

 take part in the fishery at Uruana. 



The terekay is less than the arrau. It is in 

 general only fourteen inches in diameter. The 

 number of scutels in the upper shell is the same> 



