Page:Natural History (1848).djvu/136

126 is especially manifest in the females towards their offspring. It has been stated that if one of a herd has been harpooned, its companions will assemble round, and attempt to drag out the weapon; and if the cub be taken, the mother will fall an easy prey, her maternal affection being more powerful than her instinctive fear of man.

From personal experience we can confirm Hernandez's statement of the excellence of the flesh of the Manatee: he truly compares it to well-

MANATEE.

fatted pork of pleasant flavour. The pursuit of it on this account, has rendered it scarce in many localities where it was formerly numerous: in the vicinity of Cayenne, it was at one time so common, that a large boat might be filled with them in a day, and the flesh was sold at threepence