NATURAL HISTORY. 



843 



soon lay aside their dreary aspect, 

 and become, as it were, like the 

 valley of Sharon. 



Fishes of Surinam. '[From the 

 Narrative of Baron Albert Von 

 Sack, Chamberlain to his Prus- 

 sian Majesty."^ 



The salt water fish that are 

 caught on the coast of Guiana, are 

 less delicate than those which are 

 taken on the coasts of Europe, as 

 the muddy water which the large 

 rivers carry into the sea, extend 

 more than thirty miles. 



A maritime animal which fre- 

 quents the coast and the rivers, is 

 the manati, or sea-cow. This ani- 

 mal grows to the size of about 

 fifteen feet in length, and is of a 

 bulky circumference ; the head 

 resembles that of a hog, but the 

 muzzle is shorter ; the nostrils are 

 large, its eyes are very small ; in- 

 stead of ears, it has auditory holes ; 

 the mouth is large, and the gums 

 are very hard, but without teeth ; 

 the tongue is short, as is also its 

 neck; the body is covered with a 

 dark gray very tough skin ; on the 

 breast are two paws like those of a 

 sea turtle, with which the manati 

 is said to support itself when feed- 

 ing on marine plants, and holds 

 likewise their young brood to 

 their udder, which is placed on the 

 chest. 



Next to the manati is the gray 

 munik, growing to the size of near 

 three feet in length ; it is much 

 like the salmon in its shape, but 

 has larger scales, and is thicker in 

 the body; its flesh is white and de- 

 licate : there are plenty of them in 

 the upper part of the large rivers 

 in the colonv. 



The yellow back is often brought 

 to market at Paramaribo, and at- 

 tracts the attention of new comers, 

 as this fish is of a saffron colour on 

 the upper part, but the under is 

 white; it grows sometimes near 

 three feet long, and has a large 

 head with two very long whiskers : 

 the body is small in proportion, 

 without scales, and the taste but 

 indifferent. 



The warapper is above a foot 

 long, and a fish of good taste. In 

 the rainy season it leaves its 

 swampy retreats with the inunda- 

 tion, and gets into the flooded parts 

 of the forest, where it becomes very 

 fat, and is easily caught amongst 

 the trees, when the water begins to 

 subside. 



The old wife is of the size of a 

 perch, to which it bears a resem- 

 blance, and is of an excellent 

 taste. 



The lumpe is also much esteemed 

 for its flavour. This fish is about 

 a foot and a half long, has a very 

 large head, and its body is marked 

 with longitudinal black stripes. 

 There are a number of wholesome 

 fishes in the rivers of the colony, 

 but they have nothing remarkable 

 in their form, and their methods 

 of living are entirely unknown. 



The peri, however, deserves par- 

 ticular attention ; it grows to the 

 size of about two feet, and is of a 

 flattish shape, with a large head, 

 wide mouth below the head, and 

 very sharp teeth : it has a fin on 

 each side of the belly, a single fin 

 on the back, and another at the 

 end of the tail : the fish is covered 

 with shining thin scales of ablueish 

 colour ; it lives in fresh water, 

 is very rapacious, and its jaws are 

 so strong that it will snap off the 

 feet of the duck and other water- 

 fowls 



