Theinhabitantsbelievethattheseanimalsareabsolutelydeaf；certainlytheydonotoverhearapersonwalkingclosebehindthem。Iwasalwaysamusedwhenovertakingoneofthesegreatmonsters，asitwasquietlypacingalong，toseehowsuddenly，theinstantIpassed，itwoulddrawinitsheadandlegs，andutteringadeephissfalltothegroundwithaheavysound，asifstruckdead。Ifrequentlygotontheirbacks，andthengivingafewrapsonthehinderpartoftheirshells，theywouldriseupandwalkaway；——
butIfounditverydifficulttokeepmybalance。Thefleshofthisanimalislargelyemployed，bothfreshandsalted；andabeautifullyclearoilispreparedfromthefat。Whenatortoiseiscaught，themanmakesaslitintheskinnearitstail，soastoseeinsideitsbody，whetherthefatunderthedorsalplateisthick。Ifitisnot，theanimalisliberatedanditissaidtorecoversoonfromthisstrangeoperation。Inordertosecurethetortoise，itisnotsufficienttoturnthemliketurtle，fortheyareoftenabletogetontheirlegsagain。
TherecanbelittledoubtthatthistortoiseisanaboriginalinhabitantoftheGalapagos；foritisfoundonall，ornearlyall，theislands，evenonsomeofthesmalleroneswherethereisnowater；haditbeenanimportedspecies，thiswouldhardlyhavebeenthecaseinagroupwhichhasbeensolittlefrequented。Moreover，theoldBucaniersfoundthistortoiseingreaternumberseventhanatpresent：WoodandRogersalso，in1708，saythatitistheopinionoftheSpaniards，thatitisfoundnowhereelseinthisquarteroftheworld。Itisnowwidelydistributed；butitmaybequestionedwhetheritisinanyotherplaceanaboriginal。ThebonesofatortoiseatMauritius，associatedwiththoseoftheextinctDodo，havegenerallybeenconsideredasbelongingtothistortoise；ifthishadbeenso，undoubtedlyitmusthavebeenthereindigenous；butM。Bibroninformsmethathebelievesthatitwasdistinct，asthespeciesnowlivingtherecertainlyis。
TheAmblyrhynchus，aremarkablegenusoflizards，isconfinedtothisarchipelago；therearetwospecies，resembling[picture]
eachotheringeneralform，onebeingterrestrialandtheotheraquatic。