Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 March 1896 — BIG TURTLE OF THE ORIENT. [ARTICLE]

BIG TURTLE OF THE ORIENT.

One Wetichinir Five Hundred Pound* Found on the Kgmont Islands. A Frenchman named Antelme, traveling in the East, heard from some natives recently that on one of the Egmont islands, a group of insignificant

dots in the Indian Ocean northeast of Madagascar, there was an enormous turtle. M. Antelme, surmising from the description that the creature belonged to a species supposed to he extinct, determined to capture it if possible, aud visited the islands for that purpose. He found the monster after a short search. It was without a fight, but great care was used to present It from being hurt in any way. The natives regarded it with the greatest awe and could scarcely be induced to lay hands upon it. It weighs a little over 500 pounds and its back shield measures nearly six feet across. This Is the only specimen that has ever been captured alive. It will probably he sent to Paris at an early date to be added to the collection in the Jardin des Plantes.