234 SEA PABLES EXPLAINED. 



allured by the charms of a bristly-muzzled dugong, or 

 mistake the snorting of a wallowing manatee for the love- 

 song of a beauteous sea-maiden. 



Unfortunately both the dugong and the manatee are 

 being hunted to extinction. 



The flesh of the manatee is considered a great delicacy. 

 Humboldt compares it with ham. Unlike that of the 

 whales, which is of a deep and dark red hue, it is as white 

 as veal, and, it is said, tastes very like it. It is remarkable 

 for retaining its freshness much longer than other meat, 

 which in a tropical climate generally putrefies in twenty- 

 eight hours. It is therefore well adapted for pickling, as 

 the salt has time to penetrate the flesh before it is tainted. 

 The Catholic clergy of South America do not object to its 

 being eaten on fast days, on the supposition that, with 

 whales, seals, and other aquatic mammals, it may be 

 liberally regarded as " fish." The " Indians " of the Amazon 

 and Orinoco are so fond of it that they will spend many 

 days, if necessary, in hunting for a manatee, and having 

 killed one will cut it into slabs and slices on the spot, and 

 cook these on stakes thrust into the ground aslant over a 

 great fire, and heavily gorge themselves as long as the 

 provision lasts. The milk of this animal is said to be rich 

 and good, and the skin is valuable for its toughness, and 

 is much in request for making leathern articles in which 

 great strength and durability are required. The tail con- 

 tains a great deal of oil, which is believed to be extremely 

 nutritious, and has also the property of not becoming 

 rancid. Unhappily for the dugong, its oil is in similarly 

 high repute, and is greatly preferred as a nutrient medicine 

 to cod-liver oil. As its flesh also is much esteemed, it is 

 so persistently hunted on the Australian coasts that it will 

 probably soon become extinct, like the rytina of Steller. 



