454 PROF. W. H. FLOWER ON THE MANATEE. [Apr. 5, 



While speaking upon this subject to the late Mr. R. B. Dobree, who 

 had travelled much in the West Indies, he assured me that it was 

 there a well-known fact, of which he had been frequently informed 

 by eye-witnesses, that Manatees are in the habit of coming out of 

 the water to feed. As he was then on the point of setting out on a 

 journey along the west coast of Africa, among various subjects con- 

 nected with zoology which he proposed to investigate, this was 

 suggested ; and it was his intention to collect as much information as 

 possible, either from personal observation or derived from trustworthy 

 sources, in the hope of setting the question at rest. Unhappily an 

 untimely death, brought on by exposure in an open boat while 

 engaged in exploring the shores and river-mouths in that treacherous 

 climate, put an end to these researches and to many others which 

 his friends hoped his zeal for natural history and keen powers of 

 observation would in future enable him to make. In his journal 

 (for the perusal of which I am indebted to our mutual friend Lord 

 Walsingham) the following remarks were found relating to this 

 subject 



(He is describing a trip to the Scarcies, Sierra Leone, under the 

 date of Oct. 26th, 1879):— 



" As we went down from Kikonkeh to the sea 1 was shown a place 

 in which the Manatee particularly rejoices, and I saw one of the 

 native contrivances for his capture. He goes on land at night ' to 

 eat grass ' or the young shoots of the mangrove, of which I believe 

 he is fond ; and often he is caught in kraals or traps on the eel-basket 

 principle of a gradually narrowing entrance. When the creature is 

 safely enclosed, the owner of the trap goes in at it with a cutlass and 

 spear, and manages to dispatch him in spite of the spirited resistance 

 which, according to the accounts here, he offers. I was informed 

 that when two or three Manatees are enclosed, the owner of the trap 

 usually lets go all but one, considering him quite enough to cope 

 with. The Manatee is also often killed by a heavy and pointed beam 

 of wood suspended on a kind of gallows placed at the end of a lead 

 or avenue of cane fence made for him. A cord of liana or jungle- 

 vine is passed across the path of the Manatee, and communicates 

 with the beam, which is freed by his passage over the cord, and 

 comes down upon his skull or spine, generally killing him immedi- 

 ately. About Bonny and Old Calabar there is a kind of freemasonry 

 called Egboe. Before becoming a member of this sect, it is necessary 

 that the candidate should present the society with a Manatee caught 

 by hand. It must not be shot or netted, but must be caught by 

 hand, and not necessarily caught by the candidate himself. The 

 capture is eifected at midnight, when the Manatee is surrounded, on 

 dry laud, after he has come up to feed on the grass in the corn-fields. 

 He often inflicts severe wounds on his assailants, who, I am told, by 

 splitting his tail two or three times, can prevent him from getting 

 away. The natives protect their corn-fields usually by hanging up 

 lamps or scarecrows. Manatee "beef" is excellent, and they say 

 that it is hke " pig beef;" but I have eaten it in the West Indies 

 and thought it more like our English beef. There is a great deal of 



