304 THE DUGONG. 



strongly marked ; and the Malays make frequent 

 allusion to this animal as an example of maternal 

 affection. When they succeed in taking a young 

 one, they feel themselves certain of the mother, who 

 follows it, and allows herself to be speared and 

 taken almost without resistance. The young have 

 a short sharp cry, which they frequently repeat, and 

 it is said that they shed tears. These tears are 

 carefully preserved by the common people as a 

 charm, the possession of which is supposed to se- 

 cure the affections of those to whom they are at- 

 tached, in the same manner as they attract the 

 mother to her young ; " an idea," remarks Sir 

 Thomas, " at least poetic, and certainly more natu- 

 ral than the fable of the siren's song."* 



There seems little doubt that there are many 

 species of this curious animal inhabiting the East- 

 ern Seas. Ed. Ruppel has given a description 

 of the Dugong of the Red Sea. He considers 

 it different from that of the Indian Seas, and has 

 named it Halicore tabernaculus, in consequence of 

 his historical researches having led him to the con- 

 clusion, that it was with the skin of this species that 

 the Jews were ordered to veil their Tabernacle 

 The Arabians esteem it for its flesh, teeth, and skin 

 Ruppel observed it swimming among the coral banks 

 on the coast of Abyssinia, near the Dalac Isles. 

 The fishermen call it Dauila. They harpooned a 

 female ten feet long, which our traveller dissected 



See Phil. Trans, for 1821 



