Buffon's Natural History. Volume 09 (of 10): Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals, &c. &cBuffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de
History
Buffon's Natural History. Volume 09 (of 10): Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals, &c. &c
Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de
Natural history
To conclude: the species of the manati is not confined to the seas and
rivers of the New World, but exists also in those of Africa. M. Adanson
saw them at Senegal, whence he brought one of their heads, which he
presented to me, and at the same time communicated the following
description of this animal, which he made on the spot, and which I have
thought it proper wholly to transcribe. "I saw many of these animals,
the largest was not more than eight feet long, and weighed about eight
hundred pounds. A female, which was five feet three inches long,
weighed only one hundred and ninety-four pounds. They are of a dark ash
colour, and have hairs scattered over their bodies, very long, and like
bristles. The head is conical, and of a middling size, with respect to
the bulk of the body. The eyes are round and very small; the iris is
of a deep blue, and the pupil black. The muzzle is almost cylindrical;
its cheeks are nearly of an equal breadth, and the lips are fleshy and
very thick. The only teeth they have either in the upper or lower jaw
are grinders. The tongue is of an oval form, and joined almost to the
end of the lower jaw. It is remarkable that almost every author and
traveller have described this animal with ears. I have not been able
to perceive a hole sufficient even to admit a small probe. It has two
arms, or fins, placed close to the head, which is not distinguishable
from the rest of the body by any kind of neck, nor even any apparent
shoulders. These arms are nearly cylindrical, composed of three
articulations, the foremost of which is flat, and like the palm of the
hand, the fingers of which are only to be distinguished by four claws
of a bright brownish red colour; its tail is horizontal, like that of
the whale, and is partly of the form of a baker's shovel. The female
has two breasts, rather elliptic than round, placed near the arm-pits.
The skin is thin on the belly, thick on the back, but thickest of all
on the head. The fat is white, and two or three inches thick; the flesh
is of a pale red colour, and more delicate than veal. The lolof negroes
call this animal _lereou_; it feeds on herbage, and is to be found at
the mouth of the Black Sea."
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