New York Zoological Society. 
LARGEST AND SMALLEST GALAPAGOS TORTOISES - “OLD GRANDPA” 
AND “IKE” 
at the Indian and Pacific Ocean islands on which they are found. A com¬ 
mon practice was to seize hordes of tortoises and store them alive in the 
hold of the ship. They could be kept for months without food and were 
always on hand when fresh meat was needed. The number of portions 
that could be served from a single tortoise is further indicated from Dar¬ 
win’s observations that a large tortoise required six men to carry it. 
After the heavy tropical rains the tortoise enjoys slopping about in 
the cool mud holes to refresh itself. This also relieves it of the wood ticks 
which cling to inaccessible parts of its flesh. 
The tortoise marches up and down the hills, from its highland habitat 
to the seashore, as the weather changes. It requires almost three days to 
cover eight miles although it stops only for food. The Galapagos tortoise 
is energetic enough to ascend the slopes of the steepest hills in quest of new 
ranges. Occasionally such explorations result in death by a fall from a 
cliff. If it is not injured by a fall it will continue again and again to essay 
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