THE INDIAN TORTOISE. 
7 
tions. They seldom wandered far from their holes, and generally spent part of the day in 
their burrows. They delighted in the snn in mild weather, but could not support the intense 
heat of our summer noons ; at those hours they retreated to their holes, or sought shelter from 
the scorching rays of the sun under the shade of broad -leaved plants. A tanyer ( Arum escu- 
lentum ) that grew near their holes was a favorite haunt. They could not endure rain, and 
retreated hastily to their burrows, or to other shelter, at the coming on of a shower. 
“As winter approached, they confined themselves to the immediate neighborhood of their 
holes, and basked in the sunshine. As the cold increased, they retired to their burrows, where 
they became torpid ; a few warm days, however, even in winter, would again restore them to 
life and activity. 
“The adults are remarkably strong, sustaining and moving with a weight of two hundred 
pounds or more. The female is generally larger than the male, with the sternum convex ; the 
sternum of the male is concave, especially on its posterior part. The eggs are larger than those 
of a pigeon, round, with a hard calcareous shell ; they are much esteemed as an article of food.” 
Perhaps the best known species of these creatures is the Common - Land Tortoise, so 
frequently exposed for sale in our markets, and so favorite an inhabitant of gardens. 
This appears to be the only species that inhabits Europe, and even in that continent it is 
by no means widely spread, being confined to those countries which border the Mediterranean. 
It is one of the vegetable feeders, eating various plants, and being very fond of lettuce 
leaves, which it crops in a rather curious manner, biting them off sharply when fresh and 
crisp, but dragging them asunder when stringy, by putting the fore feet upon them, and pull- 
ing with the jaws. This Tortoise will drink milk, and does so by opening its mouth, scooping 
up the milk in its lower jaw, as if with a spoon, and then raising its head to let the liquid run 
down its throat. 
One of these animals, which I kept for some time, displayed a remarkable capacity for 
climbing, and was very fond of mounting upon various articles of furniture, stools being its 
favorite resort. It revelled in warmth, and could not be kept away from the hearth-rug, espe- 
cially delighting to climb upon a footstool that generally lay beside the fender. It used to 
clamber on the stool in a rather ingenious manner. First it got on its hind legs, rearing itself 
against the angle formed by the stool and fender. Then it would slowly raise one of its hind 
legs, hitch the claws into a hole in the fender, and raise itself very gradually, until it could fix 
the claws of the other hind foot into the thick carpet- work of the stool. A few such steps 
would bring it to the top of the stool, when it would fall down flat, crawl close to the fender, 
and there lie motionless. If it were taken off twenty times a day, and carried to the other end 
of the room, it would always be found in its favorite resort in a few minutes. 
This Tortoise had a curious kind of voice, not unlike the mewing of a little kitten. The 
Common Tortoise is known to live to a great age. 
To this genus belongs a very large species, worthy of a passing description. This is the 
great Indian Tortoise ( Testudo Indica ), a native of the Galapagos. This species is also 
known scientifically by the name of Testudo planiceps. It is seen in the accompanying full- 
page illustration. Mr. Darwin writes as follows of this animal and its habits : “ The Tortoise 
is very fond of water, drinking large quantities, and wallowing in the mud. The larger islands 
alone produce springs, and these are always situated toward the central parts, and at a consid- 
erable elevation. Hence broad and well-beaten paths radiate 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 landed at Chatham Island, I could not imagine what animal travelled so method- 
ically along the well-beaten 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 fill. When the Tortoise arrives at the spring, 
quite regardless of any spectator, 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 
