THE SEA COW 233 



tended so far that, when one of them was hooked, all the others 

 were intent upon saving him. Some tried to prevent the wounded 

 comrade from [being drawn on] the beach by [forming] a closed 

 circle [around him]; some attempted to upset the yawl; others 

 laid themselves over the rope or tried to pull the harpoon out 

 of [his] body, in which indeed they succeeded several times. 

 We also noticed, not without astonishment, that a male came two 

 days in succession to its female which was lying dead on the 

 beach, as if he would inform himself about her condition. Never- 

 theless, no matter how many of them were wounded or killed, 

 they always remained in one place. 



Their mating takes place in June, after protracted preludes. 

 The female flees slowly before the male with continual turns 

 about, but the male pursues her without cessation. When, 

 however, the female is finally weary of this mock coyness ^^^ she 

 turns on her back and the male completes the mating in the 

 human manner. When these animals want to take a rest on 

 the water they turn on their backs in a quiet place in a bay and 

 allow themselves to drift on the water like logs.^^^ 



These animals are found at all seasons of the year everywhere 

 around the island in the greatest numbers, so that the whole 

 population of the eastern coast of Kamchatka would always 

 be able to keep itself more than abundantly supplied from them 

 with fat and meat. 



The hide of the sea cow has a dual nature. The outer skin 

 or coating is black or blackish brown, an inch thick and of a 

 consistency almost like cork, full of grooves, wrinkles, and 

 holes about the head. It consists entirely of perpendicular fibers 

 which lie close upon one another, as in fibrous gypsum. ^''^ The 

 bulbs of the individual fibers stand out round on the inner 

 side of this coating and fit into delicate cavities in the skin 



1" Instead of "mock coyness" the MS reads "mock flight and fruit- 

 less incitations." 



1" Instead of "like logs" the MS has "in that position." 

 165 Instead of "as in fibrous gypsum" the MS reads "as in a cross- 

 sectioned Spanish reed or cane." 



