Domingo, according to Oviedo, was as follows:"They were approached in a small boat, and struck with a large harpoon, to which a long and strong cord was attached. As soon as struck they make great efforts to escape, carrying the harpoon and cord along with them; to the extremity of the latter a cork, or piece of light wood, is affixed, which serves as a buoy, and indicates the movements of the wounded individual. Their victim being thus seized, his assailants return to shore, bringing them along with the end of the rope, and when the animal becomes exhausted, they begin to draw it on shore and despatch it." This perfectly agrees with the account we read in "The familiar Description of the Mosquito Kingdom."—" They yield the sporter no small diversion; for after having a dart or harpoon struck into their side, with a long line and buoy fastened to it, they hold some time in play, and will not leave the shoals, by which means they receive many lances and arrows from the Indians before they will be taken; many times they upset the boat in struggling."*

From this same work we extract the author's testimony regarding their excellency as an article of food:-" Their best fish is the Manatee. Most travellers in these parts that I have seen call it the best fish, if not flesh, in the world. They are sometimes found straggling in the lagunes in this country, but are not suffered to increase, through the

• Collection of Voyages, &c. fol. vol. vi. 312.

greediness of the Indian, who spares no pains when he has the prospect of getting any. The most are very white and of a pleasant taste, and many ships' companies have often experienced the virtues of it in the recovery of their healths." Modern authors generally corroborate these statements. They uniformly affirm that the flesh is excellent, tasting more like beef than fish. Gumilla states that the flesh of those of the Oronoco, when roasted, has the flavour of pork and the taste of veal, and when salted makes excellent sea store.

The carcase of an animal belonging to this genus is said to have come ashore at Newhaven, in the Frith of Forth, in the autumn of 1785. It had, however, been long dead, and was so much destroyed, that Mr Stewart, who examined it, could not determine the species. Duhamel also mentions that a female Manatus, with its cub, was thrown ashore near Dieppe, where it was regarded an extraordinary occurrence.

M. SENEGALENSIS, Adanson, Cuv. Desm

THE celebrated Naturalist Adanson was the first to notice this animal, which M. F. Cuvier, from an examination of its cranium, has separated from the former. It frequents the rivers and shores of Western Africa. and especially of Senegal. Adanson, we

1

believe, minutely studied its history, but did not publish the result of his labours. Mr Pennant, along with his short description, gives a plate of a young one which he found in the Leverian Museum, and which had been captured in the Senegal. This specimen was six and a half feet long, though they grow, he adds, to the length of fourteen and fifteen feet. They are also very fat, and the fat adheres to the skin in the form of blubber.* *

Dr Harlan has published an account of what he considers another Manatus, under the name of Latirostris, and which appears to inhabit. the great rivers of the Floridas.† Most Naturalists suppose that other living species still remain to be described; and Baron Cuvier has discovered several fossil bones of the genus.

We now proceed to the

Hist. of Quadrupeds, vol. ii. p. 296. † Philad. Jour. of Nat. Scien., vol. .

GENUS DUGUNGUS, Camper, Lacépède, Lesson, Halicore, Illiger, Desm. Fr. Cuv. Mermaid, Sea-Cow.

This genus differs most conspicuously from the last, in that it has no vestige of nails, and in its tail not being rounded, but forked, like that of Whales.

THE DUGONG.

PLATE XXVII.

Dugungus Indicus, Less. Halicore Dugong, F. Cuv. Halicore Indicus, Desm. No. 751. The Dugong.

In the year 1820, Sir E. Home stated in the Royal Society, that no specimen had ever been seen of full size by any who was conversant with comparative anatomy. About this period, however, owing chiefly to the exertions of our illustrious countrymen, Sir T. Raffles, several specimens were procured, and some of these, with accurate accounts, were trans

mitted both to this country and to France.*

Our

plate, which is of a young animal, we owe to his

exertions, and we are happy to enrich our pages with some extracts from his clear and simple history. In its general form the Dugong resembles the common cete. The skin is smooth and thick, bluish above and white beneath, with a few remote and scattered hairs; the mammæ are situated on the chest under the fins. The head is small in proportion, and of a peculiar form. The upper lip is very large, thick, and obliquely truncated, forming a short, thick, and nearly vertical kind of snout, something like the trunk of the Elephant cut short across. The surface of the truncated portion is covered with soft papillæ, and furnished with a few bristles; the lips are covered with a horny substance, which assists in tearing the sea weeds for food. Two short tusks project forward from the extremity of the upper jaw, and are nearly covered by the upper lip, which is very moveable and tumid at the margin. The lower lip is much smaller, and resembles a round or oblong chin. To assist the animal in browsing upon the submarine vegetables which form its food, the anterior part of the jaw is bent downwards at an angle, in such a way as to bring the mouth into nearly a vertical position. There are no canine teeth. The molars are twelve in number, six in each jaw, placed far back on the horizontal

* Such of our readers as have the opportunity, may see two of these animals, both young, in the Museum of the Edinburgh University.