In the bottom of this mere were found two shells of the fresh-water
tortoise, Emys lutaria, till then unknown in England.
These little animals, who may be seen in hundreds in the meres of
eastern Europe, sunning their backs on fallen logs, and diving into
the water at the sound of a footstep, are eaten largely in
continental capitals (as is their cousin the terrapin, Emys picta, in
the Southern States). They may be bought at Paris, at fashionable
restaurants. Thither they may have been sent from Vienna or Berlin;
for in north France, Holland, and north-west Germany they are
unknown. A few specimens have been found buried in peat in Sweden
and Denmark; and there is a tale of a live one having been found in
the extreme south part of Sweden, some twenty years ago. {103} Into
Sweden, then, as into England, the little fresh-water tortoise had
wandered, as to an extreme limit, beyond which the change of climate,
and probably of food, killed him off.
But the emys which came to the Wretham bog must have had a long
journey; and a journey by fresh water too.
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