63 



shy disposition, and I Lave never seen it myself, though I 

 have heard of dead carcases being thrown up on the Pdniban 

 beach, or living specimens being caught in the fishing nets. 

 One was, in fact, caught, together with a young one, the day 

 before my arrival at Pamban in 1889, and promptly sold for 

 food, as it is considered a great delicacy. There is a tradi- 

 tion among the natives that a box of money was found in the 

 stomach of a dugong which was cut up in the Pdmban bazdr 

 some years ago ; and an official is now always invited to be 

 present at the examination of the stomach contents, so that 

 the possessors of the carcase may not be punished under the 

 Treasure Trove Act for concealing treasure. But the stomach 

 contents invariably prove to be green sea- weed. The fat of 

 the dugong is believed to be efhcacious in the treatment of 

 dysentery, and is administered in the form of sweetmeats, 

 or used instead of ghee in the preparation of food. The 

 skeleton of a female dugong in the Madras Museum shows, 

 encased in the upper jaw, the functionless teeth, the blunt 

 points of which are, during life, covered by a fleshy lip form- 

 ing a snout. The female is described by Tennent {op. cit.) 

 when suckling her young, as holding it to her breast with one 

 flipper, while swimming with the other, holding the heads 

 of both above water, and, when disturbed, suddenly diving 

 and displaying her fish-like tail. 



The edible turtle {CheJone mi/das) which I have seen 

 carrying the cirrhiped Chelonohia testudiiiana^ a,nd the pearl 

 oyster attached by its byssus to the carapace, is very abun- 

 dant in the shallow water near the sandy shores of the islands 

 in the vicinity of Edmesvaram, on which the female lays her 

 eggs. A large specimen, whose skeleton has been preserved, 

 was purchased for eight annas on the understanding that the 

 vendor should have the flesh as a perquisite. The process of 

 removal of the edible portions fat, flesh, and viscera was not 

 a pleasant operation to witness. The victim was placed on 

 its back, and secured by ropes which did not prevent demon- 

 strative flapping of its fins during the operation, skilfully 

 performed with a carving knife, of removal of the breast- 

 plate so as to display the internal organs, which were re- 

 moved together with their investing fat ; the pulsations of 

 the heart, which was removed last of all, the snapping of 



* I have also seen parasitic pedunculated cirrhipeds attached to the skin 

 of a sea-snake [Uydrophis), the gills of Xeptimus pelayicus, and the antenna 

 of Palinuriis dasypus. 



