Giant tortoise dies at 250

[Dave Monroe]

CALCUTTA, India (AP) — One of the world's oldest
creatures, a giant tortoise believed to have been
about 250 years old, has died in the Calcutta zoo
where it spent more than half its long life. Addwaita,
which means "the one and only" in the local Bengali
language, was one of four Aldabra tortoises brought to
India by British sailors in the 18th century.

Zoo officials say he was a gift for Lord Robert Clive
of the East India Company, who was instrumental in
establishing British colonial rule in India, before he
returned to England in 1767.

Long after the other three tortoises died, Addwaita
continued to thrive, living in Clive's garden before
being moved to the zoo in 1875.

"According to records in the zoo, the age of the giant
tortoise, Addwaita, who died on Wednesday, would be
250 years approximately," said zoo director Subir
Chowdhury.

That would have made him much older than the world's
oldest documented living animal: Harriet, a
176-year-old Galapagos tortoise who lives at the
Australia Zoo north of Brisbane, according to the
zoo's website. She was taken from the island of Isla
Santa Cruz by Charles Darwin in the 19th century.

Aldabra tortoises come from the Aldabra atoll in the
Seychelle islands in the Indian Ocean, and often live
to more than 100 years of age. Males can weigh up to
550 pounds.

Addwaita, the zoo's biggest attraction, had been
unwell for the last few days, said local Forest
Minister Jogesh Burman,

"We were keeping a watch on him. When the zoo keepers
went to his enclosure on Wednesday they found him
dead," Burman said.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2006-03-24-tortoise-250_x.htm

Clive of Plassy, Robert, Lord (1725-74)
74; aka "Clive of India"; English soldier and
administrator who joined the East India Company in
Madras. He attempted suicide, failed at it, and
eventually distinguished himself against the
French-Indian forces in Madras and, after marrying
Margaret Maskelyne, returned to Britain a hero; he
returned to India and avenged the Black Hole of
Calcutta incident by retaking Calcutta and, at Plassy,
he defeated the Nawab of Bengal. He returned to India
several more times to aid the East India Company, but
ultimately drew the opprobrium of parliament and
committed suicide; brother-in-law of N. Maskelyne;
130; 160; 187;

http://www.hyperarts.com/pynchon/mason-dixon/alpha/c.html

Dr. Johnson

Regarding Clive of India:

"Will you not allow, sir, that vice does not hurt a
man's character so as to obstruct his prosperity in
life, when you know that [Lord Clive] was loaded with
wealth and honours; a man who had acquired his fortune
by such crimes, that his consciousness of them
impelled him to cut his own throat."
(Boswell, Life of Johnson, Tues 12th May 1778)

http://www.hyperarts.com/pynchon/mason-dixon/extra/info.html#johnson

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