The Manatee, 
415 
THE MANATEE, (Manatus Australis,) 
Also called the Sea Cow, is a great deal smaller than 
the other cetacea just described, and differs from them 
in its diet, which consists entirely of marine plants. 
It haunts the coasts and estuaries of South America, 
and measures nine or ten feet in length ; its head is 
comparatively small, its jaws are furnished only with 
grinding-teeth, of which it has thirty-two, its skin is 
provided with a good many scattered bristles, and its 
nippers, 'or fins, with four small nails. This animal 
not un frequently raises its head and shoulders out of 
the water, when it is said to have some resemblance to 
a human being, and it is probable that the distant view 
of a nearly related species, the Lamantin, which inhabits 
the shores of Africa, may have given the ancients their 
first notion of the Mermaid. The Manatee is captured 
with harpoons, and its flesh is said to be very good 
eating. When salted and dried it will keep for a year. 
It also furnishes an excellent oil, and its skin is used 
for making harness and whips. The Dugong (Halicore 
Dugong) is a very similar animal, inhabiting the eastern 
seas. It grows to a length of eighteen or twenty feet. 
