MUD TORTOISE. 



53 



in the centre, and along the middle range runs a 

 longitudinal carina : the margin consists of twen- 

 ty-three pieces, bordered with slight striae : the co- 

 lour of the shell is blackish, more or less deep in 

 different specimens, and the general colour of the 

 skin itself is similar: the feet are webbed, and 

 there are five toes before, and four behind ; the 

 exterior toe of each foot is unarmed : the tail is 

 nearly half the length of the upper shell, and in- 

 stead of being folded under the shell, as in most 

 land tortoises, it is stretched out in walking ; and 

 on this account the animal has been called Mus 

 aquatilis by some of the older naturalists, and when, 

 seen walking, one would imagine that a lizard had 

 concealed its body under the shell of a tortoise. 

 Like other tortoises, it sometimes utters a kind of 

 broken or interrupted hiss. This animal is, ac- 

 cording to Cepede, no where more common than 

 in France, and is particularly plentiful in Langue- 

 doc, and in many parts of Provence ; and in a 

 lake of about half a league wide, situated in the 

 plain of Durance, were found such vast quantities, 

 that the neighbouring peasantry were in a manner 

 supported by them for more than three months 

 together. 



Though this species be aquatic, it always lays 

 its eggs on land; digging for that purpose a hol- 

 low in the ground, and covering the eggs with 

 the mould : the shell is less soft than those of the 

 sea- tortoises or turtles, and the colour less uni- 

 form. When the young are first hatched they 

 measure about six lines in diameter. This animal 



V. III. p. I. 3 



