268 Mound Pipes. [April, 



Western Africa. In both of these species the caudal fin is 

 rounded, and the fingers on the swimming paws of the former 

 species are provided with rudimentary nails. The Indians were 

 extravagantly fond of the flesh of the manatee, the tail being 

 considered the most savory portion. The following quaint de- 

 scription of the species inhabiting the Indian ocean is interesting 

 as given by an early writer: " It is good Meat, because using the 

 Shoar it hath a flesh taste, resembling Veal, which also it shews 

 like ; the Face is like a shrivelled Buffalo or Cow, the Eyes are 

 small and round, and has hard Gums instead of Teeth ; the In- 

 trals also are like a Cow's : there is a Stone generated in the 

 Head, which is very valuable, being a soveraign remedy (as some 

 report) against Cholick, Stone-Cholick, and Dysentery, being 

 beat small, infused in Wine, and drunk fasting: the Body of this 

 Fish is three Yards long and one broad, thick-skinned, and with- 

 out Scales, narrow towards the Tail, which is very nervous, slow 

 in swimming, because it wants Fins, in lieu of which it has two 

 Paps, which it can use either to suckle its young withal, or creep 

 ashoar, where it grazes, and where it delights to lie and sleep ; for 

 it can't keep half an Hour under Water. It is very teachable 

 and apt to be made tame, being famed like the Lizzard for their 

 love to Man, whose Face they delight to look upon, and in weak- 

 ness have refreshed them." 1 



One of the sculptures referred to above, is represented with a 

 flat, truncated tail, which may possibly have been intended for the 

 South American species ( M. australis), though it is not probable 

 that the ancient mound-builder was familiar with exotic models 

 of this animal. I am inclined to believe that this feature was the 

 result of an inaccuracy in detail on the part of the sculptor, 

 especially as all of the other representations exhibit the rounded 

 tail of the Floridian species. 



Another carving of ruder execution has, with some hesitation, 

 been described as the toucan, a bird not found in the northern 

 part of the western continent. Since the Indians of Guiana and 

 Brazil, according to the statements of travelers, formerly domes- 

 ticated this bird, the fact that the sculpture in question is repre- 

 sented in the act of taking food from a human hand, " would 

 favor the conclusion," according to the discoverers, that it was 



\ 1626. From Navigantium atque Itineratium 



