The Manatee. 



415 



THE MANATEE, (Manatus Australia,) 



ALSO called the Sea Cow, is a great deal smaller than 

 the other cetacea just described, and differs from them 

 in its diet, which consists entirely of marine plants. 

 It haunts the coasts and estuaries of South America, 

 and measures nine or ten feet in length ; its head is 

 comparatively small, its jaws are furnished only with 

 grinding-teeth, of which it has thirty-two, its skin is 

 provided with a good many scattered bristles, and its 

 flippers, or fins, with four small nails. This animal 

 not unfrequently raises its head and shoulders out of 

 the water, when it is said to have some resemblance to 

 a human being, and it is probable that the distant view 

 of a nearly related species, the Lamantin, which inhabits 

 the shores of Africa, may have given the ancients their 

 first notion of the Mermaid. The Manatee is captured 

 with harpoons, and its flesh is said to be very good 

 eating. When salted and dried it will keep for a year. 

 It also furnishes an excellent oil, and its skin is used 

 for making harness and whips. The Dugong (Halicore 

 Dugong) is a very similar animal, inhabiting the eastern 

 seas. It grows to a length of eighteen or twenty feet. 



