772 MR. B, E. AUSTEN ON A RECENT ZOOLOGICAL = [June 16, 
worth elucidating. The appearance of the pink form as it rises 
to blow, seen against the pea-soupy background of the waters of 
the Amazon, is most striking. The Sotalia is black on the upper 
half of the body, which is all that I ever managed to see of it. It 
is stated by Bates (‘The Naturalist on the River Amazons,’ 6th 
ed. p. 75) that the natives call the larger species (Inia geoffroyensis) 
the “ Bouto,” while they term the smaller one (Sotalia) the “ Tu- 
euxi.” According to one of our Brazilian pilots, Bates has trans- 
posed the native names; nevertheless I am inclined to think that 
the pilot himself must have been wrong, as it is difficult to believe 
that Bates, writing after eleven years’ experience of the Amazon, 
could have made such a blunder. The pilot in question also stated 
that the large Dolphins (/nia) will attack a man in the water, 
while the small ones (Sotalia) will defend him by making an on- 
slaught on the aggressors, If there is any truth in this statement 
it may be that the small Dolphin sometimes attacks the larger one, 
just as, according to Mr. Hudson (‘The Naturalist in La Plata’), 
the Puma attacks the Jaguar whenever he meets him; but 
personally I never noticed anything of the sort, although I fre- 
quently saw the two species in close proximity in the same furo. 
I may add that Bates (‘ Naturalist on the Amazons,’ 6th ed. 
p-. 296) alludes to the number of fables that are told about the 
large Amazonian Dolphin, though he considers that “ it is probable 
these did not originate with the Indians, but with the Portuguese 
colonists.” The difference between the two species in their method 
of rising to the surface to blow is very noticeable and, as it seems 
to me, is not very clearly stated by Bates (op. cit. p. 75). The 
large black or pink Dolphin (nia geoffroyensis) thrusts itself 
horizontally along the top of the water, usually showing the crest 
of its flat head first, and then nearly the entire length of the back, 
including the low dorsal fin ; it then dives gently down head fore- 
most. The small species (Sotalia) arches over out of the water, 
showing the curve of the backand the dorsal fin. Sir Wm. Flower 
was extremely anxious that I should, if possible, bring home a 
specimen of Jnia geoffroyensis, or indeed of any one of the Ama- 
zonian Dolphins, and accordingly I made many attempts to shoot 
one but without success. The fishermen cannot be induced to 
harpoon them, and eventually we came to the conclusion that the 
only practicable means of securing a specimen would be to have a 
couple of big seine nets specially constructed for the purpose and 
to shoot them across one of the narrow furos, when the Dolphins 
might easily be captured. 
In the creeks running out of the Rio Negro below Manaos I 
found Manatees (Manatus sp. inc.) not uncommon, and on more 
than one occasion I saw one make a tremendous commotion on the 
top of the water. In one instance the neck of the animal seemed 
to appear first, and it then turned “head over heels” as it were, 
and I distinctly saw the disk-shaped tail strike the water. This 
liveliness on the part of the Manatee in its natural state is 
perhaps worth noting, as in captivity it usually appears to be a 
