Porpoises. 299 



The male turtles, or Capitaris, " are distinguishable by 

 their much smaller size, more circular shape, and the 

 greater length and thickness of their tails." Near the 

 Tapajos we met a third species, called Matd-matd. It has 

 a deeply-keeled carapax, beautifully bossed, and a hideous 

 triangular head, having curious, lobed, fleshy appendages, 

 and nostrils prolonged into a tube. It is supposed to have 

 great virtues as a remedy for rheumatism. But the most 

 noticeable feature of the Amazonian fauna, as Agassiz has 

 remarked, is the abundance of cetaceans through its whole 

 extent. From the brackish estuary of Para to the clear, 

 cool waters at the base of the Andes, these clumsy refu- 

 gees from the ocean may be seen gamboling and blowing 

 as in their native element. Four different kinds of por- 

 poises have been seen. A black species lives in the Bay 

 of Marajo. In the Middle Amazon are two distinct por- 

 poises, one flesh-colored ;* and in the upper tributaries is 

 the Inia Boliviensis, resembling, but specifically different 

 from the sea-dolphin and the soosoo of the Ganges. " It 

 was several years (says the Naturalist on the Amazon) be- 

 fore I could induce a fisherman to harpoon dolphins {Bou- 

 tos) for me as specimens, for no one ever kills these ani- 

 mals voluntarily ; the superstitions people believe that 

 blindness would result from the use of the oil in lamps." 

 The herbivorous manati (already mentioned, Chap. XV.) is 

 found throughout the great river. It differs slightly from 

 the Atlantic species. It rarely measures over twelve feet 

 in length. It is taken by the harpoon or nets of chambiri 

 twine. Both Herndon and Gibbon mention seals as oc- 

 curring in the Peruvian tributaries ; but we saw none, nei- 

 ther did Bates, Agassiz, or Edwards. They probably meant 

 the manati. 



* Delphinus palUdus. Bates observed this species at Villa Nova; we saw 

 it at Coary, 500 miles west ; and Herndon found it in the Huallaga. 



