24 HUNTING AND FISHING IN FLORIDA. 
one Indian adorned in this manner. It is probable that most of 
their ornaments are kept in safe places to be used only on ‘state 
occasions.” — 
METHODS OF HUNTING. 
Durine the spring the manatees enter the rivers to feed on the 
‘‘manatee” grass, and, as some writers claim, the leaves of the 
mangrove trees. They are abundant in the bays and rivers all along 
(Drawn by Edward Knobel.) 
MANATEE. 
the west and east coasts of Southern Florida. At one time the St. 
Lucie River was a noted place for them. In New River the man- 
atee is still common, and they are numerous at times in the lower 
part of Biscayne Bay and on the west coast south of Charlotte 
Harbor. They live equally in salt or fresh water, and while with 
the Indians on one of their manatee hunts I have seen half a dozen 
rising to the surface of the ocean at one time, over a quarter of a 
mile from shore. 
Many of these animals are killed by the Indians every year. 
They hunt them in canoes, sometimes in the rivers, and again in 
the ocean, but usually near the mouth of some river. 
These animals come to the surface every few minutes to breathe, 
and their heads may be seen as they appear for a moment above the 
surface of the water, 
