208 THE OCEAN. 



Cat-fish, a broad-faced creature of remarkably liideoiis 

 aspect, but which is esteemed as food. 



In some of the quiet nooks and sheltered bays of 

 these lovely islands, where the vegetation is green 

 and luxuriant to the water's edge, we may catch a 

 sight of a herd of Manatees, or Sea-cows. These 

 animals are usually classed with the Whales, but 

 they seem, indeed, to be much more intimately con- 

 nected with the Pachydermata, an order that contains 

 the Elephant and Hippopotamus. The form is long 

 and tapering, but plump, and has been compared to 

 that of a filled wine-skin or leather bottle. The 

 hinder feet are altogether wanting, but the fore limbs 

 assume the appearance of broad flat fins, or flippers, 

 the fingers of which are not separated externally, but 

 can be distinctly felt through the skin ; and the nails 

 or claws by which the paw is terminated, sufficiently 

 indicate their presence. These creatures are perfectly 

 inoffensive in their manners, timid, and retiring ; they 

 delight in secluded places, shallow creeks, and par- 

 ticularly the mouths of the great South American 

 rivers, often proceeding many miles up the country. 

 For such situations they are peculiarly adapted ; the 

 broad valleys of these regions, parched up to barren- 

 ness in the dry season, and then inundated, so as to 

 resemble seas during the periodical rains, would not 

 be suited to the capacities of a terrestrial ruminant ; 

 but the aquatic habits of the Manatee enable it to 

 avail itself of the rich and abundant vegetation of 

 the watery expanse as well as to range the coast 

 when it is parched up by the returning drought. 

 Being exclusively herbivorous, the flesh is highly 



