THE AMAZON DISTRICT. 



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one or two distinct species. Having carefully prepared a skin 

 and skeleton of a fine male (which, with the rest of my 

 collections, was lost on the voyage home), I did not describe 

 it so minutely as I otherwise should have done, but have some 

 notes, referring to male and female specimens, which I will 

 now give : — 



Manatus of the Amazon. 

 Peixe boi, of the Portuguese. 

 Vaca marina, of the Spaniards. 

 Juaroua, of the Indians' Lingoa Geral. 



The mammae of the female are two, one close to the base of 

 each fin behind. The muzzle is blunt, fleshy, and covered 

 with numerous stiff bristles ; the nostrils are on the upper part 

 of it, and lunate. The lips, thick, fleshy, and bristly, and the 

 tongue rough. The skin is lead-colour, with a few pinkish- 

 white marblings on the belly; others have the whole of the 

 neck and fore-part of the body beneath cream-colour, and 

 another spot of the same colour on the underside of the tail. 

 The skin is entirely smooth, resembling india-rubber in 

 appearance, and there are short hairs scattered over it, about 

 an inch apart ; it is an inch thick on the back, and a quarter 

 of an inch on the belly ; beneath it, is a layer of fat, of an 

 inch or more in thickness, enveloping every part of the body, 

 and furnishing from five to ten gallons of oil. 



The total length of full-grown animals is seven feet. The 

 intestines are very voluminous. The lungs are two feet long, 

 and six or seven inches wide, very cellular, and when blown 

 up, much resemble a Macintosh air-belt. The ribs are each 

 nearly semicircular, arching back from the spine, so as to form 

 a ridge or keel inside, and on the back there is a great depth 

 of flesh. The bone is excessively hard and heavy, and can 

 scarcely be broken. The dung resembles that of a horse. 



The cow-fish feeds on grass on the margins of the rivers and 

 lakes. It is captured either with the harpoon, or with strong 

 nets, placed at the mouth of some lake, whence it comes at 

 night to feed. 



Though it has very small eyes, and minute pores for ears, 

 its senses are very acute ; and the fishermen say there is no 

 animal can hear, see, and smell better, or which requires 

 greater skill and caution to capture. When caught, it is killed 



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