240 



WHALE-TAILED TRICHECHUS. 



Trichechus Borealis. T. nudus, cauda horizontali loco pedum poste- 



r'torum. 

 Hairless Trichechus, with a horizontal tail in place of hind feet. 

 Trichechus borealis. Far. B. T. Manati. Lin. Syst. Nat. Gmel. 



p. 61. 

 Whale-tailed Manati. Pennant Quadr. 2. p. 292. 



This animal seems to approach so nearly to 

 the cetaceous or whale tribe, as scarce to deserve, 

 according to Mr. Pennant,, the name even of a 

 biped ; what are called the feet being little more 

 than pectoral fins; which serve only for swim- 

 ming, and are never used to assist the animal ei- 

 ther in walking or landing; for it never goes 

 ashore, nor ever attempts to climb the rocks like 

 the Walrus and the Seal. It brings forth in the 

 water, and, like the Whale, suckles its young in 

 that element. Like the Whale it is also destitute 

 of voice, and has also a horizontal tail, which is 

 broad, and of the form of a crescent, without even 

 the rudiments of hind feet. 



So complete is the account given by Mr. Pen- 

 nant of this animal, that we shall here deliver the 

 most material parts of that author's description, 

 rather than attempt a new one. 



It inhabits the seas about Berings and the 

 other Aleutian islands, which intervene between 

 Kamtschatka and America, but never appears off 

 Kamtschatka, unless blown ashore by a tempest. 

 It is probably the same species which is found 



