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 to the lower country; but
they differed respecting the frequency of these visits. The
animal probably regulates them according to the nature of
the food on which it has lived. It is, however, certain, that
tortoises can subsist even on these islands where there is no
other water than what falls during a few rainy days in the
year.
I believe it is well ascertained, that the bladder of the frog
acts as a reservoir for the moisture necessary to its existence:
such seems to be the case with the tortoise. For some
time after a visit to the springs, their urinary bladders are
distended with fluid, which is said gradually to decrease in
volume, and to become less pure. The inhabitants, when
walking in the lower district, and overcome with thirst, often
take advantage of this circumstance, and drink the contents
of the bladder if full: in one I saw killed, the fluid was quite
limpid, and had only a very slightly bitter taste. The
inhabitants, however, always first drink the water in the
pericardium, which is described as being best.
The tortoises, when purposely moving towards any point,
travel by night and day, and arrive at their journey's end
much sooner than would be expected. The inhabitants, from
observing marked individuals, consider that they travel a
distance of about eight miles in two or three days. One large
tortoise, which I watched, walked at the rate of sixty yards
in ten minutes, that is 360 yards in the hour, or four miles a
day, - allowing a little time for it to eat on the road.
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