OFvDER VI. THE CETACEA. 237 



rope, wliicli is taken into tlie I)oat. AVIien an animal is struck, tlie loose 

 onil of the rope is conve\-ed to the shore, where it is seized by a large num- 

 ber of men, who, with great difficulty, drag it to the beach. The poor 

 creature makes the strongest resistance, assisted by its faithful companions, 

 and clinging to the rocks with all its power. 



Steller describes them as frccpienting the shallow waters near the shores, 

 and the estuaries of the rivers, where they appear in great troops. The 

 older surround the younger, apparently in the way of protection. They are 

 so gentle as to sutler themselves to be Jiandled ; if roughly treated they re- 

 move towards the sea, but soon forget the injury and return. Sometimes 

 they appear in families near one another, each of which consists of a male 

 and a female, one lialf grown, and a cub ; but the families often unite, and 

 form vast herds. They are extremely harndcss and innocent in their man- 

 ners, and strongly attached to one another. When one is hooked, the whole 

 drove will attempt its rescue, some stri\ ing to o\ertiu'n the boat by going 

 beneath it, others flinging themsehes with great violence on the rope in 

 order to break it, and others will endeavm- to force the instrument from its 

 hold. Their conjugal atfectinn is extraordinary. On one occasion a male, 

 after using all its endeavors to relieve its mate, followed it to the very shore, 

 whence no blows could compel it to depart ; and after she was killed and 

 conveyed away, waited three days in tlie expectation that she would return 

 to him. In their mental and moral characters they bear a remarkable re- 

 semblance to many of the seals ; like the latter, following man by a natural 

 instinct, and like children, looking to him for sympathy and protection rather 

 than injury and persecution. 



Genus Duciuxcas. Here we find a nearer approach to the true whale. 

 The head, general form, and forked tail betray a cetacean relationship. 

 There are no canine teeth ; tlie molars arc twelve in number, six in each 

 jaw, and placed far back on the horizontal portion. As the animal is found 

 in the P-icific Ocean, on the coast of Xew Holland, and in the lied Sea, 

 there are undoubtedly several species, but none of them appear to be well 

 known, with the cxcei)tion of the one we are about to introduce to the 

 reader. 



I). Indicus. — The Dugong of India. AVe arc indebted to Sir TJiomas 

 Ilaffles for many interesting details regarding the natural history of this 

 species. The male attains the length of eighteen or twenty feet, the body is 

 whale-like, and the paws arc without nails. Tlie skin is smooth and thick, 

 and destitute of blubber; the mamma- are placed on the chest, under the 

 fins; the color is bluish above, and white beneath; a few hairs are thinly 

 scattered over the body. The Dugong feeds on the sea vegetables which 

 gi-ovv on the bottoms of the inlets of the ocean or of the shallow rivers, in 



