2 iB 
THE SAVAGE WORLD. 
in his way. Walking also quickly tires him, so that at every rod of his jour¬ 
ney he sits down, with hind legs drawn up and front ones straight, in which 
position he presents a comical aspect. His appearance at best is far from pleas¬ 
ing ; his shell is a dusty black, without markings; his tail is long and knotted, 
legs long and large, terminating with powerful claws. The head is prominently 
large, covered with thick wrinkled skin, neck long and studded with wart-like 
tubercles, while the mouth is armed 
with sharp jaws and hooked beak. 
When irritated the creature gives off a 
penetrating odor resembling musk, 
from which fact, together with its cor¬ 
rugated back and generally saurian 
aspect, the term Alligator terrapin has 
been given. A more appropriate name 
is applied to him in the West, where 
he is universally known as snapping 
turtle , though the snapping turtle proper 
is more common in the swamp regions 
of the tropics. It is a most savage 
reptile, with jaws powerful enough to 
bite off a finger at a single snap. In 
making an attack it is more tenacious of its hold than a bull-dog, for which 
reason it is said not to quit its hold until it thunders. Its vitality is truly 
remarkable, having been known to live for a week with the head wanting. 
Notwithstanding its disgusting appearance and habits, its flesh is highly 
esteemed by some people whose appetites are evidently not very delicate. 
The Snake-Tortoise (Hydromedusa maximiliani ) is a species found only 
in the marshes, 
SNAPPING TURTLE. 
stagnant waters, 
and occasionally 
in streams of 
Australia. Its 
most pro¬ 
nounced charac¬ 
teristic is an ex¬ 
tremely long 
and snake-like 
neck. The head 
is also of un¬ 
usual length, 
with the eyes, 
which are dis¬ 
proportionately 
large, set almost 
at the nasal ter¬ 
minus. When 
the body is hidden from view and the long neck exposed to observation, this 
tortoise has an astonishingly serpentine aspect, which is increased by a habit 
which the animal has of moving the head with arched neck in wonderful simili- 
THE TIGER, OR SNAPPING TURTLE OF SOUTH AMERICA. 
