TORTOISES AND TURTLES 
155 
originally brought from the Seychelles, is definitely known to have lived for over 130 years 
from the date of its transportation. It is stated to have been of large size when imported ; 
and as these animals are notoriously slow growers, another couple of centuries may be safely 
added to its life-span. The Galapagos Islands down to recent times have produced the greater 
number of species of these tortoises, the carapace of the largest of these not infrequently 
measuring as much as 4 feet in direct length, and the weight of such an animal being 
over 400 lbs. 
H ighly interesting details concerning the Galapagos giant tortoises and their habits are 
contained in Darwin’s “ Voyage of the Beagle.” At the time of that illustrious naturalist’s 
visit they were still very abundant in the islands. He remarked that they abounded in both 
the higher and damper and the lower and arid districts, but gave preference to the former. 
Photo by S. G, Payne ^ Son^ Aylesbury, by permission vf the Hon. iValttr Rothschild 
ELEPHANT-TORTOISES FROM THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS 
Stueral species are shown in this photograph 
The old males were invariably the largest, growing to such a size that they required six or 
eight men to lift them, and yielded as much as 200 lbs. of good, highly nutritious meat. On 
some of the islands there was no water; and in these cases, as also when they occurred in the 
dry and arid lowlands, they were observed to feed chiefly on the succulent cactuses. When 
water was plentiful, the tortoises exhibited a great fondness for it, drinking large quantities 
and wallowing in the mud. In the larger islands, where wells and springs e.xisted in the 
higher and damper portions, regular well-beaten paths radiated in every direction, indicating 
the routes, like sheep-tracks, regularly followed by the tortoises to and from the water-holes. 
It was these tracks which betrayed their presence and led to their first discovery by the older 
Spanish navigators. When travelling long distances to the watering-places, it is recorded that 
they march night and day, pursuing the “ even tenor of their way” at the rate of sixty yards 
an hour — one yard per minute, or four miles per day! During the breeding-season the larger 
males indulge in hoarse roarings or bellowings that can be heard for a considerable distance, 
female deposits her eggs either in the sand, where this is plentiful, covering them up 
