TESTUDO TABULATA.
This Tortoise is found in the southern States of America, in the whole of
tropical America, and in the larger West India islands. It appears that it is not
found north of the river Savannah. It is carried to market and sold as food
in Florida and Georgia. Those which I have kept have fed on grass, and on
dandelions and lettuces, and drank freely. The account which Bartram gives
of the habitations of these tortoises, in his Travels in the southern parts of
North America, is exceedingly curious, though, like most of his wonderful
stories, it is tinctured by an amusing credulity which has rendered him easily
imposed upon. “ The dens or caverns dug in the sand hills by the great land
tortoise, called here Gopher, present a very singular appearance. These vast
caves are their castles and diurnal retreats, from whence they issue fo rth in the
night in search o f prey. The little hillocks of fresh earth, thrown up in great
numbers in the night, have also a curious appearance.” At another part of his
journal he says, “ Observed, as we passed over the sand hills, the deris of the
great land tortoise, called Gopher. The first signs of this animal’s existence as
we travel southerly, are immediately after we cross the Savannah river. It is
to be seen only on the high dry sand hills, in which they form great and deep .
dens, casting out incredible quantities of earth; they are esteemed excellent
food.” It is unnecessary to say that the little flourish of the worthy traveller,
about their issuing from their castles in the night time in search of prey, is a
simple fiction; for not only are all the land tortoises vegetable feeders, but
strictly diurnal animals.
The young animal differ# from the older in the brighter colour, the more
distinct sculpture, and the rounded oval form of the shell. The eggs are of a
spherical shape, very slightly flattened, and about two inches in diameter.
The egg shell is thick, and of a friable texture.