5° 
TORTOISES AND TURTLES. 
everted; its general colour being dark brown or black, with a yellowish centre to 
each of the shields on the back. The nuchal shield of the carapace is wanting; 
while in the plastron the gular shields, although well developed, are prolonged 
anteriorly into hem-like processes. The head and limbs are marked with orange 
or red spots, on a dark ground. This handsome tortoise, which attains a length 
of nearly 22 inches, is an inhabitant of tropical South America, to the east of the 
Andes, and also of the Windward Islands, ascending to an elevation of about two 
thousand feet. In many wooded districts it appears to be very abundant, feeding 
not only on leaves and grasses, but likewise on the fallen fruit which is to be met 
with in great quantities. In the hot season it constructs a nest of dry leaves, 
wherein are deposited its eggs, which may be a dozen or two in number. When 
first hatched, the young are of a uniform yellowish brown colour, with their shells 
still soft. The young, and to a less degree the adults, have, according to the 
Prince of Wied, numerous enemies. Against the puma and jaguar the stout shell 
of even the adult seems to be no defence, since, according to native reports, those 
animals, on finding one of these tortoises, will set it up on end and scoop out the 
flesh with their paws; while from the occurrence of broken shells in the forest it 
would seem that in some cases they are actually able to tear the plastron away 
from the carapace. As the flesh is devoid of smell, it is likewise eagerly sought 
after by both Indians and Portuguese, who are in the habit of keeping these 
tortoises—known in Brazil by the name of schabuti—in stews, where they are 
fattened for the table. They are also allowed to run about the houses, where they 
are fed chiefly on plantains. 
Burmese The four species belonging to the third group, of which the 
Brown Tortoise. Burmese brown tortoise ( T . emys ) is an example, are characterised by 
the presence of some very large conical, bony, spur-like tubercles on the lower 
portion of the hind-leg, and the circumstance that the length of the union in the 
middle line of the anal shields of the plastron is considerably less than that of the 
abdominal shields; the colour of the carapace in the adult being either uniform 
brownish, or yellowish brown closely spotted with black. The Burmese brown 
tortoise, which attains a length of 18 inches, while agreeing with the species above 
noticed in the possession of a nuchal shield on the front of the carapace, differs in 
that the caudal shield at the hinder extremity of the same is divided, as in the 
terrapins. The shell of this species is much depressed, with the anterior and 
posterior borders of the carapace serrated; the adult being dark brown, or blackish 
in colour, while in the young the carapace is yellowish brown, with dark brown 
markings. In addition to the spur-like tubercles on the back of the heel, the 
whole of the front of the fore-limb is overlain with imbricating bony tubercles, 
arranged in four or five longitudinal rows, and there are some conical ones on the 
back of the thigh, as well as others on the lower surface of the hind-foot. This 
species is an inhabitant of Assam, Burma, Siam, the Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra, 
where it frequents moist wooded districts, and is believed to be largely aquatic in 
its habits. The association of a divided caudal shield, with habits reputed to 
resemble those of the terrapins, is somewhat noteworthy. 
In the other three members of this group the nuchal shield is wanting, and 
the caudal single. Of these, the Argentine tortoise ( T. argentina ) of South 
