TH K RYT1XA. 



waters. Whole herds of these animals may be seen sporting near the nhoivM, diving at interval* 

 t.. I.I.H-III-.- f.l. :ui<l rising again in order to breathe. They are most affectionate creatures, 

 an.' if one of a pair be captured, the other falls an easy prey to the pursuers, as it refuses to 



l.-aw- th.- fatal -i.i, :in>l will r.ith.-r Miir.T itself to l> killed tlian forsake even the dead body 



of its latv partiuT. 



There are several sped- - <>f I Migong, which are all very similar in habits, although they 



van in sia* OMtpMftM bM !:' K , festteil to the leu/ th ol twviitj six f..-t. 'I'll.- -kuli 



of tlirx- animals is \.-i \ singularly formed, the upper jaw being bent downward over the low-r 

 jaw, ami t.-rininat. .1 l.\ two large incisor teeth. It is supposed that the object of this struct mv 

 is to assist tlu> animal in guthering together and drugging up by the roots the algte and otln-r 

 subaqueous vegetation on which it feeds. 



The skin of the Dugong is ca]>al>l- of In-im,' manufactured into various useful articles, ami 

 the flesh is in some repute, being said to bear close resemblance to veal. 



DCOONO-flUtan 



A nnRD genus of these herbivorous cetaceans is the RYTINA, which is supposed to be now 

 extinct, the last known specimen having been killed in 1768, only twenty-seven years after the 

 creatures were discovered. 



The Rytina possessed no true teeth, and masticated its food by means of two bony plates, 

 one of which was attached to the front of the palate, and the other to the lower jaw. It was a 

 large animal, measuring about twenty-five feet in length, and nearly twenty feet in cirrum- 

 f.-n nre. The Rytina was discovered in the year 1741 on an Island in Behring's Strait ; and 

 as the animals w-re large, heavy, and unarm**!, tln-y were most valuable in affording food to 

 the unfortunate sailors who wi-iv shipwreck^! II]PII that island, and were forced to abide 

 there for the space of ten months. Wln-n the islands were visited by ships in search of sea- 

 otters, which abounded in that locality, the rrews found tht- Rytinas to be so valuable and so 

 easy a pn-y that tin- i-ntin- nn-.- was extirpated in a few years. 



The only account of the Rytina is that which was furnished by St.-ll.-r. one of the ship- 

 wnt-ked party, who, undaunted by the terriMi- privations which he was forced to undergo, 

 rote an admirable <Wri pi i<>n of th.- animal, which was afterwards published in 8t Petersburg. 



