AN OLD MAN TURTLE.

Shannon News, 14 March 1924, Page 3

AN OLD MAN TURTLE.

PRESENT FROM CAPTAIN COOK.

Found .recently i n the Tonga Island of the South Pacific Ocean (says a London paper) w c ,s a turtle supposed to have been left there in 1773 by Captain Cook, the English mariner. Its finder reported that it was blind and creaked Jike an ox cart when it moved.

Mr. Makofisi, a Tongan, who came to Auckland with the Tongan Queen's party in 1922 and remained :there. states that this statement is quite true. He often saw the aged turtae ,

before he left the islands, and recently received a letter in which he was informed that the turtle was still alive. It lives inland at Mua, about six miles from Nukualifa, It is about two feet in length, and is quite different from the sea turtles which arc to be found at Tonga in large numbers. The "Cook" turtle is said to have a good appetite and eats freely o,C kumeras, yams, or other vege. tation that may be to its liking. It is well taken care of by the Chief of Mua, Jeolif Pajia, and the Roman Catholic missionaries, and is expected to live for a long time yett