PORTER S JOL' RxN'AL. 



215 



ceived otherwise, or from the course of nature, their shells 

 become very rough, and peal off in large scales, which ren- 

 ders 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 colour, 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. 



The most of those we took on board were found near a 

 bay on the northeast part of the island, about eighteen 

 miles from the ship. Among the whole only three were 

 male, which may be easily known by their great size, and 

 from the length of their tails, which are much longer than 

 those of the females. As the females were found in low 

 sandy bottoms, and all without exception were full of eggs, 

 of which generally from ten to fourteen were hard, it is pre- 

 sumable that they came down from the mountains for the ex- 

 press purpose of laying. This opinion seems strengthened 

 by the circumstance of there being no male tortoises among 

 them, the few we found having been taken a considerable 

 distance up the mountains. One remarkable peculiarity in 

 this animal is, that the blood is cold. I shall leave it to 

 those better acquainted v/ith natural history to investigate 

 the cause of a circumstance so extraordinary ; my business 

 is to state facts, not to reason from them. 



The temperature of the air of the GaUipagos Islands 

 varies from 72° to 75° ; that of the blood of the tortoise is 

 always 62°. After the most diligent search, no appearance 

 of fresh water could be found in the neighbourhood of the 

 place where the tortoises were taken, although some of the 

 seamen searched to a considerable distance from the sea- 

 shore. Yet each of these animals had in its stomach or 

 reservoir from one to two gallons, of a taste by no means 

 disagreeable, and such as ti^rst would readily induce any 

 person to use. From this circumstance, as well as from 

 the verdant appearance of the interior. I should be induced 



