nemy.

The colour of the skin is a dusky lead, with some flesh-coloured marks
on the belly, and the skin itself is an inch thick at its thickest part,
on the back. Beneath the skin is a layer of fat, of great, thickness,
which makes excellent oil when boiled. As we have said, the manati has
no appearance of hind-limbs. Its fore-limbs, however, are highly
developed for a water animal. The bones in them correspond to those in
the human arm, having five fingers with the joints distinct, yet so
enclosed in an inflexible sheath that not a joint can be moved.

The cow-fish feeds on grass, coming in to the borders of the lakes and
rivers to procure it. It can swim very rapidly by means of its flat tail
and strong fins, and is not so easily captured as might be supposed. All
the art of the hunter is required to effect its destruction. The harpoon
is the weapon usually employed, though sometimes they are caught in
strong nets stretched across the mouths of rivers or the narrow arms of
lakes. The flesh of the manati is much esteemed, and tastes somewhat
between beef and pork, altogether different from "fish." Fried in its
own oil, and poured into pots or jars, it can be preserved for many
months.

As already stated, on the day after Guapo shot the turtle--in fact, the
next morning--just as they were going to shove off, some of the party,
in gazing from the edge of the balza, noticed a queer-looking animal in
the clear water below. It was no other than a "fish-cow;" and, as they
continued to examine it more attentively, they were astonished to
observe that, with its short paddle-like limbs, it hugged two miniature
models of itself close to its two breasts. These were the "calves" in
the act of suckling, for such is the mode in which the manati nourishes
her young.

All the others would have watched this spectacle for a while, interested
in the maternal and filial traits thus exhibited by a subaqueous
creature, but while they stood looking into the water, something
glanced before their eyes, and glided with a plunge to the bottom. It
was the harpoon of Guapo.

Blood rose to the surface immediately, and there was a considerable
splashing as the strong manati made its attempt to escape; but the head
of the harpoon was deeply buried in its flesh, and, with the attached
cord, Guapo soon hauled the animal ashore. It was as much as he and Don
Pablo could do to drag it on dry land; but the knife soon took it to
pieces; and then seve