360 NATURALIST'S CABINET, 



Mode of taking the nianati. 



thickest of all on the head. The fat is white, and 

 two or three inches thick ; the flesh is of a pale 

 red colour, and more delicate than veal. 



To take the manati, the hunters, or fishermen, 

 row themselves in a boat, or on a raft, as near 

 the animal as possible, and then dart a very 

 strong arrow at him, to the end of which a long 

 cord is fastened: feeling himself wounded, he 

 instantly swims away, or plunges to the bot- 

 tom ; but the cord has a cork, or piece of wood, 

 fastened to the end of it, to serve as a buoy, and 

 direct them which way he takes. When the 

 animal begins to grow faint and weak through, 

 loss of blood, he swims toward the shore; the 

 cord is then wound up, and the manati drawn, 

 vrithin arm's length of the boat, where they dis/i 

 patch him with spears and other weapons. 



Some writers tell us, that the female produces 

 two young at a time, which follow her wherever 

 she go*?, and that when the mother is taken, the 

 young are an easy prey, as they will never desert 

 her body, living or dead, Others, however, as- 

 sert that the manati never brings forth more than 

 one young at a time; and this seems most pro- 

 bable from its analogy to the nature of all other, 

 large quadrupeds or cetaceous animals. 



END OF VOL. II. 





