90 
MAMMALIA. 
purpose they gather together in great troops. The strongest and 
oldest of the males leading the way, followed by the females, 
with the young placed in the middle. 
Their flesh is said to be agreeable ; for it resembles beef in 
the opinion of some, is like pork according to others. Their 
fat is sweet, and keeps for a long time without becoming putrid. 
What we have just said relates particularly to the American 
species, which is found at the mouth of the Orinoco, of the j 
Amazon river, and all the great water-courses of tropical South 
America. There exist other species, of which one inhabits Sene- 
gal, another the Bed Sea. 
The Duyong is distinguished from the Manatee by its flippers, 
which have no nails, and by some other peculiarities of structure 
which need not be mentioned here. We will, however, remark 
that the two external incisor teeth of the upper jaw are elongated ! 
into a sort of tusk. The habits of the Duyong are analogous to j 
those of the Manatee. Two species are known, one of which 
(. Halicore Duyong ) inhabits the Malayan seas chiefly, but is also 
met with on the west coast of Ceylon, in the backwaters of the 
Concan along the coast of Malabar, and occasionally on the shores 
of the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal ; the other (AT. 
australis) inhabits the shores of the northern part of Australia. 
Their flesh is held in high estimation, and the Australian Duyong 
is now eagerly hunted for the sake of the oil which it yields, to 
which the same medicinal virtues are attributed as to that derived 
from the livers of Cod-fish. 
