WHALE-TAILED MANATI. 
The weight of a large one is eight thoufand pounds. 
Inhabits the fhores of Bering’s and the other iflands which inter- 
vene between the two continents. They never appear off Kamt/chatka, 
unlefs blown afhore by tempefts, as they fometimes are about the 
bay of Awat/cha. The natives ftyle them Kapujfinik, or cabbage- 
eaters, from their food. This genus has not been diftovered in any 
other part of the northern hemifphere. That which inhabits the 
eaftern fide of South America, and fome part of Africa, is of a dif- 
ferent fpecies. For the latter I can teftify, from having feen one 
from Senegal. Its body was quite fmooth; its tail fwelled out in 
the middle, and floped towards the end, which was rounded *. To 
fupport my other opinion, I can call in the faithful Dampier ; who 
defcribes the body as perfe@tly fmooth ¢: had it that ftriking inte- 
gument which the fpecies in queftion has, it could not have efcaped 
his notice. Let me alfo add, that the fize of thofe which that able 
feaman obferved, did not exceed ten or twelve feet; nor the weight 
of the largeft reach that of twelve hundred pounds f. 
I fufpect that this fpecies extends to Mindanao, for one kind is cet- 
tainly found there |. It is met with much farther fouth ; for I dif- 
cover, in the collection of Sir JosrpH Banks, a fketch of one taken 
near Diego Rodriguez, vulgarly called Diego Rais, an ifle to the eaft of 
Mauritius; and it may poflibly have found its way through fome 
northern inlet to the feas of Greenland; for Mr. Fabricius once dif- 
covered in that country the head of ene, half confumed, with teeth 
exactly agreeing with thofe of this fpecies §. 
Thefe animals frequent the fhallow and fandy parts of the fhores, 
and near the mouths of the fmall rivers of the ifland of Bering, feem- 
ingly pleafed with the fweet water. They go in herds: the old keep 
behind and drive their young before them: and fome keep on 
their fides, by way of protection. On the rifing of the tide they 
* A figure of this fpecies is given in De Buffon, xii. tab. lvii. and in Schreber, ii. 
tab. Ixxx. 
$ Voy. i. 335 } Ibid, || Dampier, i. 3216 § Faun. Greenl. p. 6. 
Aa2 approach 
179 
Weicur. 
PLACE. 
MANNER 
