23G DIVISION I. VERTEBRAL ANIMxVLS. — CLASS I. MAMMALIA. 



ing to lliiilon, possess a considcriiljlc degree of intelligence. They do not 

 iKiturally sIilhi man, Init are tiee in ainiroaciiing, and follow liini with emifi- 

 dince. They also appear to be hound together by a strong feeling of fra- 

 ternity, assoeiating in troops, with the young placed in the centre for better 

 security, and when danger threatens, each is ready to bear its share in 

 mutual deience in- attack. ~\\'hen one has been struck with a harjioon, others 

 will tear the weapon from the tlcsh ; and usually, if the cubs are taken, the 

 mother ceases to care for her own safety, while if the mother is taken, the 

 young will follow her to the .shore and to death. 



31. >Scii<-<jaIe)ish\ — This species is smaller than tlie foregoing, scarcely 

 ever surpassing fifteen feet in length. It fre(pients the rivers and shores of 

 Western Africa, and particularly of Senegal. It is coveicd with fit, which 

 adheres to the skin like blubber. The specific character which separates this 

 species from the former is found in the structure of the craniiun. 



(icnns Stelleuus. 'i'he paws of this genus arc destitute of nails; the 

 jaws have each one tooth, of a [)cculiar kind ; the skin is remarkalily thick 

 and hard. Tiie sluircs of Ijehring's Straits and the l!ay of Awatscha are 

 given as the habitat of the Stclleri. 



i^/c//('nis Uared/is. — The head of this species is small, ol)long, and 

 obtuse. The nostrils arc at (he end nf the snout; the two heavy tubercles, 

 which Cuvier designates as teeth of a peculiar kind, are not set in the bone, 

 but in the st)ft parts ; there is no external ear; the eyes are deep-set and 

 small, with a li\id ball and lilack iris. ]>ut the most remarkable character 

 of this animal is its skin, which is knotty and rugged as the bark of an aged 

 oak, resenililing in its substance the hoof of cattle. It is so hard that an 

 axe will scarcely penetrate its horny texture, and appears to have been 

 wisely and benevolently provided by the Creator as a protection for these 

 liarndess creatures against the rigors and dangers of the drenry and desolate 

 regions where Jsature has lixcd their home. It shields them in winter from 

 the loose fragments of ice, among ^\]lich they feed, and the shai'[i-pointed 

 rocks, against which they are often dashed by I'lU'iiais storms, and in the 

 summer, from the scorching rays of the sun. They ha-\'e two pectoral 

 nianuna^ and llicir milk resembles that of the ewe. The largest of them 

 measure twenty-eight or thirty feet in length, and \vcigh about eight thousand 

 pounds. 



They feed with the head under water, quite inattentive to the boats, or 

 anything that passes around them, moving and s\\ imming gentlj' after one 

 another, sometimes with a great portion of the back out of the water. 

 "When the_y raise their heads above the surface, as they do at frequent inter- 

 vals fir respiration, they make a noise like the snorting of horses. The peo- 

 ple at Ijeliring's Island capture them by a great hook, fiistencd t(j a long 



