344 THE WHALES, DOLPHINS AND MANATEES 



but horny, almost bony plates, corresponding to the horny gum- 

 pads of the dugong and manatee, served the purpose of mastication. 

 According to Steller, it attained a length of from twenty to twenty- 

 eight feet. Though stupid, voiceless animals, they were of a very 

 affectionate disposition, and were readily tamed, even allowing 

 themselves to be handled. They appeared in families, each consist- 

 ing of a male, female, one half-grown cub, and a cub born in autumn ; 

 and sometimes these families united into great herds. As they were 

 found to be very good eating, Steller unfortunately recommended 

 them as articles of diet to the sailors; and so faithfully was his 

 advice observed by the natives and seamen, that within twenty- 

 seven years of his first visit the last Rhytina was killed, namely 

 in 1768. 



The Dugong (Halicore Dugong) is a living species, usually ten 

 to twelve feet in length, and with a fairly wide distribution, 

 being found from the Red Sea and the East African coasts to 

 the west coast of Australia ; it is occasionally met with on the 

 coasts of Mauritius, Ceylon, and the Indian Archipelago, though 

 its numbers are fast diminishing, and it appears doomed 

 soon to complete extinction. Outwardly it differs from the 

 Rhytina in being smooth-skinned, and in having the fore-limbs 

 longer, and the tail semilunar, but deeper and less fluked, and not 

 marginally split. In colour it is slaty-brown or bluish-black 

 above, and whitish beneath. It frequents the shallow smooth 

 waters of the bays, inlets, and river estuaries where fucus and 

 other seaweeds grow in abundance, and there it feeds in a 

 leisurely fashion. 



The Manatee inhabits the coastal waters and rivers of the 

 African and American continents. In Africa it ranges along the 

 west coast, and ascends the Senegal, Niger, Congo, and other 

 rivers. In America two forms are supposed to exist, one being 

 found in Florida, the other in Surinam, Guiana, Jamaica, the 

 Amazon and its tributaries, and the various rivers, bays, and inlets 

 ot the tropical American coast, browsing on the aquatic vegetation, 

 but having apparently a preference for fresh-water plants. In their 

 general habits they appear to resemble the dugong and rhytina. 

 The full-grown Manatee is from ten to twelve feet in length. Its 

 long body terminates in a thin, wide, shovel-shaped, fibrous, 

 horizontal tail ; and the fore-limbs, or flippers, have diminutive 



