The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-08-27
Gigantic TOrtOiSes.

Living specimens of the gigantic lanC
tortoises of the Mascarene Islands
rarely fiud their way to Europe, the
difficulties in the way of transportation
being so very great. Recently, how.
ever, pair of them was brought tc
Europe in perfect health, and have
been secured for the Geological Gar.
dens. Mr.. Salmon writes to Nature
Both the tortoises are natives of Aldabra,
though not of the same breed. The
larger, the male, has been in the Sey-
chelles for about seventy years its last
proprietor, M. Deny Calais, kept it with
the female in a semi-domesticated state
on Cert Island. His weight is about
eight hundred pounds ; the length of
the shell five feet five inches (in a
straight line), the width FIVE feet nine
inches circumference of the shell,
eight feet one inch circumference of
four leg, one foot eleven inches, and of
hind leg, one foot six inches length of
head and neck, one foot nine inches :;
width of head, six inches. The female is
much smaller, and we have no informa
ton as regards the time she was brought
to the Seychelles. Thelength of her shell
is three feet four inches, the width three
feet ten inches, the circumference five
feet four inches. She lays thrice every
year in. the months of July, August,
and September, each time from fifteen
to twenty round hard-shelled eggs.
There is every reason to believe that
the laying of eggs will not be inter-
rupted by the transmission of the ami
mails to England. Every one who sees
these two tortoises side by side is at
once struck by the great difference in
form and sculpture of the shell. That
OF the male is remarkable high, with a
rounded outline, each plate being raised
into hummock, and deeply sculptured
with concentric furrows along the mar
gins. The female, on the other hand.
has a perfectly smooth shell with an
oval outline, without either burrows or
raised portions. The shell of the male
is brownish, that of the female is black.
The male has also comparative longer
neck and tail than the female. 1t is
quiet possible that these are sexual diff
ference, the males being known to grow
to a much larger size than the females.
But as Aldabre consists of three islands,
by channels of the sea which
are impossible barriers to animals
which may float but cannot swim, it
may be presumed that the two animals
come from distinct islands, each island
of the group being inhabited by dis
tinct race, as in the Galapagos. The
male shows himself to be annoyed when
the female is disturbed, and there is no
doubt that he exhibits affection for her,
as was especially evident on board the
steamer, when he tried to break out of
his cage as soon as he got sight of the
female, who was transported in a sepa-
rate cage. The circumstance that the
two animals are a pair increases the
chances i'll favor oftheir being kept alive
Tor heightened period. The male is
doubt the largest and mostpower-
'ul individual of its race, far exceeding
n size any of the few other individuals |
Kept in the Seychelles. Nor is it likely |
hat in Aldabra itself a similarly |
arge example should have succeeded |
n evading the search of the numerous
,rews which have landed there. These |
gigantic tortoises formerly existed in
he Mascarene Islands in vast numbers,
,ut the species are now nearly extinct,
,wipg to the destruction of them by |
he crews of mercantile vessels.