102 AFLOAT UPON THE LLANOS. 



ling explosion. At 11 a. m. we drew np to an clevnted 

 island-spot for breakfast, where we shot a wild-boar, such 

 as wander in herds over the savannas. Removing the 

 head, and dividing the body lengthwise into halves, the 

 hair was singed, and the meat sufficiently roasted over a 

 huge fu'e to preserve it until vre should bivouac for the 

 night. The wild-hog of the Llanos is the common species, 

 escaped from domestication, and, like the wild liorses and 

 cattle which feed upon the plains in such numbers, is not 

 indigenous, but was introduced by Europeans upon the first 

 settlement of the country. 



Having spent the night upon a wooded bank, at three 

 o'clock the following morning all things were again towed 

 on board, and we were once more in motion up the Ata- 

 maica. At 10 a. m, we stopped for breakfast and a cock- 

 fight. A feathered gamester constitutes an essential ac- 

 companiment of the Llanero voyager, and, on every oppor- 

 tunity that presented itself, our patron trotted out his bird 

 for a contest. 



We saw here the manati, or vaca marina (sea-cow), 

 called by the Brazilians pdxeboi, or cow-fish, which had 

 been captured by the natives. This seal-like mammal be- 

 longs to the cetaceous family, is from eight to fifteen feet 

 in length, and sometimes exceeds one thousand pounds in 

 weight. The head is small, with thick, fleshy lips and a 

 large mouth. Its eyes and auricular organs are very 

 small, yet the senses of both these organs are exceedingly 

 acute. The body is covered with a smooth, thick skin ; 

 the flesh, something between pork and beef, is held in high 

 estimation by the inhabitants. The fat of the animal, 

 called manteca de manati, manati-butter, is void of that 

 odor peculiar to cetaceous oil generally, and is used for 

 illumination and cooking; while the strong skin, cut into 

 strips, supplies the natives with cords and ropes. This 

 herbaceous cetacea inhabits the waters of the Lower Orino- 



