Of tortoises, some
live on land, some in marshy places, some in rivers; turtles live in the
sea, their lungs being so made as to enable them to remain under water
without breathing.
The common tortoise, often kept in gardens, is found in the south of
Europe, and is generally not more than nine inches long. Its upper shield
is exceedingly strong. My brothers and sisters and I used often to stand
upon the back of a pet tortoise which lived in our garden; it did not seem
to feel our weight, but I remember finding it no easy matter to keep my
feet together upon its smooth back, and none of us could perform this feat
unless the tortoise was pleased to stand still while we balanced ourselves
upon him. I can, in imagination, see this little tortoise of ours now, not
larger than a crab such as you see at the fishmonger's, with its short
legs and feet, and its little tail, all covered with scales, sticking out
between its upper and under shells. How we used to laugh, when we saw him
draw in his head and feet under the shelter of the shell: the only sign he
gave of being annoyed at all our pranks! We were told that our tortoise
might not die for a hundred years, and I have heard that some have been
known to live twice that time; it is a slow sort of life, but we must not
forget that, in the poem about the Hare and the Tortoise, it was "slow and
steady" that won the race.
I cannot remember that we ever gave our tortoise anything to eat; it must
have catered for itself in the garden where it was so fond of burrowing
and hiding away, that we had many a hunt for it when it was supposed to be
lost.
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