58 THE SEA COWS 



with the head bent over, the body thus being much arched. 

 Every six or seven seconds it would rise to the surface and 

 breathe by the valved nostrils, then sink beneath the 

 surface again. 



The young of this manatee, one of which is generally 

 born at a time, is easily tamed, and one has been seen to 

 follow its master about as does a dog, though very slowly. 

 A law has been passed to protect these animals from 

 hunters ; but the extinction of the manatee is being 

 hastened by the severe winters of the past years. In 

 February, 1894, a strange and unprecedented cold wave 

 swept over the land, freezing the trees, killing the tropical 

 vegetation, and causing untold distress and disaster. At 

 that time but a small herd of manatees was known, and 

 on the following day two were found frozen and dead. 

 These were the survivors of a small herd that had lived 

 for a number of years in the St. Lucie and Sebastian 

 rivers and on the Indian River between the mouths of 

 these streams. They were well known by the people of 

 the vicinity and could often be seen passing beneath the 

 railroad bridge of the Sebastian River. Every winter de- 

 pleted them. Three were washed up at Palm Beach 

 during the cold wave of 1896, and doubtless none of the 

 herd of eight are still alive, though it is believed that a 

 few may be seen in the Sebastian River. Everything 

 relating to the manatee is of the greatest interest, as it is 

 doomed to extinction. The animal is highly regarded as 

 food along the rivers of South America, the natives fol- 

 lowing it with the harpoon. Another manatee is found on 

 the west coast of tropical Africa. 



Very similar to the manatee is the dugong (Fig. 40), 



