The 17th-century British pirate, explorer, and naturalist William Dampier wrote, "They are so extraordinarily large and fat, and so sweet, that no pullet eats more pleasantly," while Captain James Colnett of the British Navy wrote of "the land tortoise which in whatever way it was dressed, was considered by all of us as the most delicious food we had ever tasted."
O pirata explorador e naturalista británico do século XVII William Dampier escribiu o seguinte: "Son tan extraordinariamente grandes e gordas e tan doces, que ningunha carne de ave se come con máis pracer", mentres que o capitán James Colnett da mariña británica dixo: "a tartaruga de terra de calquera maneira que sexa aderezada, era considerada por todos nós como a comida máis deliciosa que tivesemos probado".