130 DAN BEARD'S ANIMAL BOOK 



ligators would slip from the banks or fall with a 

 splash from water logged tree trunks into the 

 stream and swim away, conspicuously displaying 

 the black and yellow markings of their armor- 

 plated tails. Stretched prone upon the bottom of 

 my boat with my chin hanging over the gunwale 

 lazily watching the water, I noticed that between 

 me and the shore some floating weed or grass 

 was moving in apparently an unaccountable man- 

 ner; not only did the floating vegetation move with- 

 out regard to the direction of the tide, but por- 

 tions of it constantly disappeared beneath the flood ; 

 presently there was a ripple on the smooth surface 

 of the water near the floating grass and 



A GREAT NOSE, WITH COW-LIKE NOSTRILS 



and stiff bristles startled me as it appeared above 

 the surface; it was visible but a moment before 

 it disappeared and then a bulky shadowy form 

 could be seen swiftly and noiselessly gliding away 

 under water. There was no chance to make 

 sketches of this thing, and the modern snapshot 

 camera was not then invented, but I retained a men- 

 tal photograph of that nose in my mind. 



It was at the old New York Aquarium that I 

 first had an opportunity to examine at close quarters 

 and make drawings of a live sea-cow. That was 

 years ago when the institution was located on what 

 is now known as Herald Square. When I first came 

 to New York, along with my other work, I was il- 

 lustrating and writing natural history articles for 



