TRICHECHUS. 



eyes fmall ; round orifices inftead of ears ; tlie /kin thick 

 and wrinkled, and fcattered over with (hort brownifh hairs ; 

 with five toes on each foot, connedled by webs ; the hind- 

 feet broader than the fore-feet, and the tail very (hort. In 

 the upper jaw are two long tudvs, fometimes two feet but 

 generally about one foot in length, without cuttino- teeth, 

 and with four roundifh grinders. Thefe animals are found 

 about the northern parts of America, in the gulf of St. 

 Lawrence between 47° and 48" lat., in Davis's (traits, and 

 within Hudfon's bay in lat. 62°; in great numbers about 

 Spitzbergen, alfo on the coaft of Greenland and of Nova 

 Zembla, and on the headlands extending towards the north 

 pole. They are gregarious, produce their young, one at a 

 time, early in the fpring, and feed on fea-plants, (hell- 

 filh, &c. 



Unprovoked the walrus is harmlefs, otherwife furious and 

 vindiftive. The female, when furprifed on the ice, flings 

 its young into the fea, plunges after it, and having carried 

 it to 3 fafe diftance, returns with great rage to revenge the 

 injury. They fometimes fallen their teeth in the boats, to 

 fink them, or crawl under them, to overfet them, indicating, 

 by gnafhing their teeth and roaring frightfully, great tokens 

 of rage. Their attachment to one another is very ftrong ; 

 for a wounded walrus plunges to the bottom, and rifes again 

 fuddenly with a number of attendants to attack the boat 

 whence they received infult. They are faid to lie on the 

 ice in herds of many hundreds, loudly roaring, and giving 

 notice of ice in the night or in a fog, when it could not be 

 feen : fome of the herd are always on the watch, who, on 

 the approach of danger, awake the reft. They are foon 

 frightened by a flafh in the mufket-pan, and plunge into the 

 deep ; but the female will defend the young to the laft, on 

 the ice or in the water ; nor will the young one quit the 

 dam, though (he be dead. In the gulf of St. Lawrence, 

 this animal is called a fea-cow, and it is faid to refemble a cow 

 much more than a horfe, which name may probably be a 

 corruption of the Ruffian name Morfe. The teeth of the 

 ■walrus are ufed for ivory : the animals are killed chiefly for 

 the fake of the oil ; and it is faid that a very ftrong and 

 elaftic leather may be prepared from the (kin. 



DiiGONG, the Dvgon of Buffon, and the Indian Walrus 

 of Pennant, with approximate, cxferted tufks. This animal 

 inhabits the feas about the Cape of Good Hope and the 

 Philippine ifiands. 



Manatus, the Manat'i or Sea-cow of Ray, and La- 

 nmr.t'm of BufFon ; without tu(ks, or (lightly hairy ; and 

 with a horizontal tail in place of hind-feet. Found in the 

 larger rivers as well as feas of Guiana, and growing to 

 the length of 16 or 18 feet; the (kin being dark-brown, 

 with fcattered hairs upon it ; the feet with five toes ; the 

 body nearly of the fame thicknefs to the tail, when it fud- 

 denly narrows ; the tail flat, of the (hape of a fpatula, 

 thicker in the middle, and thinner towards the edges. 



The T. Clufn, or Clufius's Manati, is fuppofed to be a 

 variety : it grows to an enormous fize in the South Ame- 

 ric.m rivers. As an article of food, it is faid to be fuperior 

 to any other animal of this genus, particularly the young. 

 It is taken by means of harpoons. The Indians take great 

 numbers, by making dams acrofs the mouths of the (hallow 

 lakes formed by the floods. Dr. Shaw mentions a manati, 

 called by the inhabitants of the country, on account of its 

 gentle nature, " Matum," which, at the time of the arrival 

 of the Spaniards, was kept by a prince of Hifpaniola in a 

 lake adjoining to his refidence : it hated the Spaniards, but 

 would offer itfelf to its Indian favourites, and carry over the 

 lake ten at a time, finging and playing on its back. The 

 T? Hydropithecus^ or Sta-atc Manati of Pennant, is only 



VoL.XXXVL 



known from the defcription of Stellcr, who, near the coaft 

 of America, faw a fingular animal wliich he named a fca- 

 ape, and which Pennant fuppofes to belong to this genus. 

 It was an animal that delighted in frolic, and fported like a 

 monkev. 



T. Jujra/is, the variety y. of T. manatus, according to 

 Gmelin's Linnaeus, but a diftinft fpecies in Shaw's Zoo- 

 logy ; hairy, with four-toed unguicnkted feet, or with a 

 horizontal tail in place of hind-feet ; the round-tailed Manati 

 of Pennant ; growing to the length of 14 or 15 feet, and 

 found in the rivers of Africa, particularly in the Senegal. 

 The fpecimen in the Leverian Mufeum was about fix feet 

 and a half long, and three feet eight inches in circumference 

 in the thickett part of the body, and in the thinneft part 

 near the tail about two feet two inches. The flefh of this 

 animal is faid to refemble veal ; but it is chiefly killed by 

 the Negroes for the fake of its blubber or fat. 



T. Borealis, a variety of T. Manatus in Gmelin's edition 

 of Linnasus, but a diflinft fpecies in Shaw's Zoology ; hair- 

 lefs, with feet furnifiicd neither with toes nor nails ; or with 

 a horizontal tail in place of hind-feet ; the whalc-taihd 

 Manati of Pennant. It approaches nearly to the whale 

 tribe ; it never goes afhore, nor attempts to climb the rocks, 

 like the walrus and the feal. It brings forth in the water, 

 and, like the whale, fuckles its young in that element. It 

 inhabits the feas about Bering's and the other Aleutian 

 illands, but never appears off Kamtfchatka, unlefs blown 

 thither by a tempeft. It is the fame fpecies that inhabits 

 near Rodiguez, or Diego Reys, an ifland eail of the Mau- 

 ritius, and probably extending to New Holland. Thefe 

 animals live perpetually in the w.iter, but in calm weather 

 frequent the mouths of rivers in great numbers, and ap- 

 proach in time of flood fo near the land, that they will fuffer 

 themfelves to be ftroaked with the hand ; but if hurt, fwim 

 out to the fea, prelently returning again. They live in 

 families, one near another ; each confifting of a male, a fe- 

 male, a half-grown young one, and a very ("mall one. The 

 affeftion between the male and female is fo great, that if the 

 latter is attacked, the former will defend her to the utmoft ; 

 and if (he is killed, will follow her carcafe to the (hore, and 

 for fome days fwim near the place where it was landed. 

 They are very voracious, and when full of the fuci that 

 grow in the fea, fall afieep on their backs. The back and 

 fides are generally above water, and gulls are found perching 

 on their backs, in order to pick up the infefts which they 

 find upon them They are taken by harpoons fixed to a 

 ftrong cord ; but when ftruck, it requires the force of 

 thirty men to draw them on (hore. When a manati k 

 ftruck, its companions fwim to its affillance, and make many 

 efforts to overturn ttie boat, or break the rope of the h,ar- 

 poon, and others will flrike at the harpoon with their tails. 

 They make a noife, by loud breathing, like the fnorting of 

 a horfe. Their fize is enormous, fome being 28 feet long, 

 and 8000 lbs in weight. The circumference of the body 

 near the (boulders is 12 feet, about the belly 20, near the 

 tail 4 feet 8 inches, the head 3 1 inches, the neck near fcven 

 feet ; and hence we may infer the deformity of the animal. 

 Near the ftioulders are two feet, or rather fins, two feet 

 two inches long, without fingers or nails ; bene.ath they , ire 

 concave, and covered with hard briftles ; the tail is thick, 

 (trong, and horizontal, terminating in a ftiff black fin, and 

 refembling the fubftance of whale-bone; the (kin is thick, 

 hard, and black, unequal on its fiirface, like the bark of 

 oak, fo hard as fcarcely to be cut with an axe, and without 

 hair ; beneath the Ikin is a thick blubber, tafting like oil of 

 almonds. The (lefli is coarfer than beef, and will not fooii 

 putrefy ; that of the young ones has the tafte of veal. The 

 ^ ^' Ee (^'n 



