74 THE LAMENTIN. [169I. 



The Lamontins/ which otlier Nations call Maiiati, that is 

 having Hands, abound in the Sea about this Isle, appearing 

 often in numerous Troops, Its Head is extreamly like that 

 of a Hog, whatever is said in Mr. Corncillc^ Dictionary of 

 Arts and Sciences; for in the Article of this Fish, of the 

 difference of Palm-Trees, and several other things that have 

 fallen within my Knowledge ; he is apt to erre frequently 

 and grosly, as is the least imperfect Dictionary that ever 

 was. He borrows the Heads of an Ox, of a Mole, of a Horse 

 and a Hog, to Compose that of a Lamantin ; and in this case 

 falls into the same Confusion, which happens to all that 

 undertoke to describe things they never saw, and have no 

 distinct Idxa of. As for my self, I have seen, and carefully 

 and nearly examin'd several ; wherefore I say again, that not 

 only I, but my Companions also found the Head of a Lamen- 

 tin was altogether very like that of a Hog, excepting that its 

 Snout was not so sharp. 



1 This animal was evidently the ITalicorc dinjoiuj, now extinct in the 

 ]\I;\scarene waters, an innocuous herbivore, without fear of man, easily 

 captured, and therefore soon extirpated by the sailors in want of fresii 

 meat. (See supplementary note.) 



"Where is the lUojthm of Behrings' Island? Absolutely abolish* d 

 from the face of the earth ! Where are the Manatees that played in the 

 Avaters of the Antilles ? . . . Where are the Dugongs of Rodriguez, 

 so charmingly described by Leguat ? Vanished! Where are the Sea- 

 elephants of Ascension, Tristan d'Acunha and the Crozettes? So hunted 

 down that it is not worth a skipper's while to seek them ! Where are 

 the countless and mighty Otaries that Peron found in Bass's Straits ? 

 Not there assuredly ! . . . Surely it is time to stop such wanton, 

 such short-sighted destruction." (Professor Newton on "■ Extermination 

 of Marine Mammalia", Nature, December 11, 1873, p. 112 ; Mammalia, 

 llecent and Extinct^ by A. W. Scott, Sydney, pp. 52 et scq.) 



2 This M. Corneille was Thomas, the younger brother of Pierre, the 

 great Corneille. He composed this Dictionnaire des Arts et des Sciences 

 at the request of the French Academy, as a supplementary work to 

 the Academy's Dictionary. The article on Lamentins, by Thos, Cor- 

 neille, was solely concerned with the American Lamentin, and not with 

 the Dugong described by Leguat. (MuUer's note on p. 92 of modern 

 French ed.) 



