calcareous shells might be transported through salt-water, than could
the slimy spawn of frogs?
I will first describe the habits of the tortoise (Testudo nigra,
formerly called Indica), which has been so frequently alluded to. These
animals are found, I believe, on all the islands of the archipelago;
certainly on the greater number. They frequent in preference the high
damp parts, but they likewise live in the lower and arid districts. I
have already shown, from the numbers which have been caught in a single
day, how very numerous they must be. Some grow to an immense size: Mr.
Lawson, an Englishman, and vice-governor of the colony, told us that he
had seen several so large, that it required six or eight men to lift
them from the ground; and that some had afforded as much as two hundred
pounds of meat. The old males are the largest, the females rarely
growing to so great a size: the male can readily be distinguished from
the female by the greater length of its tail. The tortoises which live
on those islands where there is no water, or in the lower and arid
parts of the others, feed chiefly on the succulent cactus. Those which
frequent the higher and damp regions, eat the leaves of various trees,
a kind of berry (called guayavita) which is acid and austere, and
likewise a pale green filamentous lichen (Usnera plicata), that hangs
from the boughs of the trees.
The tortoise is very fond of water, drinking large quantities, and
wallowing in the mud. The larger islands alone possess springs, and
these are always situated towards the central parts, and at a
considerable height. The tortoises, therefore, which frequent the
lower districts, when thirsty, are obliged to travel from a long
distance. Hence broad and well-beaten paths branch off in every
direction from the wells down to the sea-coast; and the Spaniards by
following them up, first discovered the watering-places. When I landed
at Chatham Island, I could not imagine what animal travelled so
methodically along well-chosen tracks. Near the springs it was a
curious spectacle to behold many of these huge creatures, one set
eagerly travelling onwards with outstretched necks, and another set
returning, after having drunk their fill. When the tortoise arrives at
the spring, quite regardless of any spectator, he buries his head in
the water above his eyes, and greedily swallows great mouthfuls, at the
rate of about ten in a minute. The inhabitants say each animal stays
three or four days in the neighbourhood of the water, and then returns
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