THE YOUNG TOBTOISES. 
193 
a rrows, 'whilst, with upraised heads and paws ex- 
uded, the animals are warming themselves in the sun. 
the ,°^ h * be b^le tables (tortuguillos) may have burst 
e SheUs of their eggs during the day, they are never seen to 
tW .? ut of the g round but at night. the Indians assert 
trWi t i 6 y° un S arLunal fea rs the heat of the sun. They 
a also to show us, that when the tortuguillo is carried in 
jj! a = to a distance from the shore, and placed in such a 
hesif that its tail is turned to the river, it takes without 
nation the shortest way to the water. I confess, that 
al w „ eX P eriment > °f which Father Gumilla speaks, does not 
tW^ s , succeed equally well: yet in general it does appear 
islan ) .? re;1 t distances from the shore, and even in an 
"'h'lt ’..these little animals feel with extreme delicacy in 
j, direction the most humid air prevails. 
Cti f e 0n tlle abnost uninterrupted layer of eggs that 
^uas along the beach, and on the thousands of little 
is diffi , seek tbe water as soon as they are hatched, it 
thejl cu u to . admit that the many turtles which have made 
yo Ut , r , neStS i l rl tbe same s P ot > can distinguish their own 
the J’- • lead tbem > like the crocodiles, to the lakes in 
the cunty of the Orinoco. It is certain, however, that 
the P asses the first years of its life in pools where 
great • ls .fallow, and does not return to the bed of the 
lii,,} t / IVer tifi it is full-grown. How then do the tortuguillos 
Which pools ? ^r 0 they led thither bv female turtles 
burner ° P j the >' oun " as b >' cba nce ? The crocodiles, less 
f arnii.,° U f . s > de P osl t tb eir eggs in separate holes ; and, in this 
the J saunans, the female returns about the time when 
to her v ' tl0n 18 terminated, calls her young, which answer 
'The a ' 0lc ®> and often assists them to get out of the ground. 
s Pot tortoise, no doubt, like the crocodile, knows the 
return t- 61 ?, sbe bas made . her nest ; but, not daring to 
etlc auiDrn he beach on which the Indians have formed their 
those w,i, , w can she distinguish her own young from 
the Ott-r, 1Ca t n .°t belong to her? On the other hand, 
nation r L ,lac Indians declare that, at the period of inun- 
8 f eat n e / have met with female turtles followed by a 
o b 0se € ,l ni JC , r young ones. These were perhaps arraus 
they coutf a iad been deposited on a desert beach to which 
Vqi, j return. Males are extremely rare among these 
