449 



from what prejudice I know not, is considered 

 unwholesome and calenturiosa # , is very savoury. 

 It appeared to me to resemble pork rather than 

 beef. It is most esteemed by the Guanoes and 

 the Otomacks ; and these two nations addict 

 themselves particularly to the catching of the 

 manatee. It's flesh, salted and dried in the Sun, 

 can be preserved a whole year ; and, as the 

 clergy regard this mammiferous animal as a 

 fish, it is much sought for during Lent. The 

 vital principle is singularly strong in the mana- 

 tee ; it is tied after being harpooned, but is not 

 killed till it has been taken into the canoe. This 

 is effected, when the animal is very large, in the 

 middle of the river, by filling the canoe two- 

 thirds with water, sliding it under the animal, 

 and then baling out the water by means of a 

 calebash. This fishery is the easiest after great 

 inundations, when the manatee has passed from 

 the great rivers into the lakes and surrounding 

 marshes, and the waters diminish rapidly. At 

 the period when the Jesuits governed the mis- 

 sions of the lower Oroonoko, they assembled 

 every year at Cabruta, below the mouth of the 

 Apure, to have a grand fishing for manatees, 

 with the Indians of their missions, at the foot of 

 the mountain now called El Capuchino. The 

 fat of the animal, known by the name of man- 



* Causing fever, 

 VOL. IV. 2 G 



