THE SAVAGE WORLD. 
219 
tude to a snake. It lives off reptiles and fish, prey which its great speed in 
the water enables it to capture. The color is dark brown, and scales edged 
with a black line. 
The Matamata ( Chelys matamatd) is a habitant of South American waters 
under and north of the equator. In appearance it is the most singular species 
of the tortoise tribe. The carapax has the appearance of irregular miniature 
hillocks, with knob projections running round the base; but while this rugged 
formation serves to give it a rather curious aspect, it is in the head and neck 
that the truly hideous characteristic is pronounced. The head is broad and most 
curiously surmounted by ear-like flaps of extremely tough skin, and the snout 
is much prolonged and sharp on the point. The neck is long and broad— 
almost flat—which is an odd form, but to this unusual shape is added the very 
grotesque feature of four rows of rather long fringed membranes, or wattles, 
while two prominently large wattles hang from the throat. What purpose this 
strange formation can subserve is not known, especially since by experiment it 
has been shown that they may be cut off without apparent injury to the animal. 
The matamata attains a length of three feet, to which considerable size is 
added a rather ferocious and voracious disposition. It is an expert swimmer,, 
but seldom exercises t'he faculty, pre¬ 
ferring to lie in concealment under 
drift, or grass by the water’s brink, 
from which it darts out upon fish, rep¬ 
tile or fowl, that may come near, and 
with the prey returns to its former 
place to devour it. Its flesh is consid¬ 
ered a special delicacy. 
The Soft Shell Tortoise ( Trionyx 
niuticus ), commonly called soft-shell matamata 
turtle , is found in nearly all the run¬ 
ning streams of the United States, and is especially numerous in the 
Ohio and Mississippi rivers. As the name indicates, the shell is soft, or 
of the consistency of sole-leather when wet. The color of the carapax is 
that of fresh liver, and is frequently spotted with black dots, and at other 
times with dull yellow and pale green. The neck and head are cylindrical, 
terminating with a soft snout, and under the throat are pale yellow stripes 
and dots, though there is a great variation in the coloring. The plastron, 
however, is always of a light flesh color. The neck is retractile, being 
capable of stretching to considerable length or withdrawing until only the 
snout is visible. It is entirely carnivorous, feeding on fish, cray-fish, worms 
or any kind of meat, whether fresh or putrid. Although Woods pronounces 
this species “ as one of the strongest and most ferocious of reptiles,” con¬ 
founding it with its South American congener, the macrochelys lacertina , its 
nature is directly the opposite. Though I have been familiar with them all 
my life, as a resident on both the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, I never knew 
one to attempt any revenge upon its captors. The South American species, 
however, which though larger and almost identical in appearance, is hardly so 
harmless, a captive one having been known to bite a sailor’s finger off. 
The true turtles are peculiar to salt water, differing in this respect from 
tortoises, save a few varieties described. They are also dissimilar in structure 
