35(5 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Singular conformation. 



i 



quadruped by the fore-feet on each side of the 

 breast." 



Oviedo, to whom we are indebted for the 

 first account of the inanati; describes it, as a 

 clumsy and ill-shaped animal, having the head 

 thicker than that of an ox, with small eyes, and 

 two feet, or hands, placed near the head, which 

 serve the purpose of swimming. The animal has 

 no scales, but is covered with a thick hide, 

 sprinkled with hairs or bristles; and the length 

 of the body, in some individuals, is upwards of 

 fifteen feet by six feet in thickness. The flesh is 

 excellent eating, when fresh; but still more so 

 when cut in pieces and pickled ; as in that state, 

 it acquires the flavor of the tunny fish. The fe- 

 male has two paps on her breast, and suckles her 

 young. 



Clasius saw and measured the skin of a ma- 

 nati, which he found to be sixteen feet and a half 

 long, and seven feet and a half wide : the two 

 feet were very broad, and the claws short. Ga- 

 mara tells us that he has sometimes seen them 

 twenty feet long, and adds that the animals fre- 

 quent fresh-water rivers as well as the sea. He 

 says, a young one was reared in a lake in the 

 island of St. Domingo, where it remained twenty- 

 six years; that it was so docile and tame as to 

 come out of the water, for food, when called ; 

 that it seemed delighted with the human voice, 

 and was so fond of children that it would suffer 

 them to sit upon its back, and carry them from 



