Our mermaid is called by sailors a “sea cow” from the shape of its head and face; a “river calf” from its size and habit of living in rivers; the most common and best name for it is that given it by the early Spanish colonists, the manatee, or handed animal, because it can so skilfully use its fore limbs or flippers. Once there were manatees in many different parts of the world. They were numerous in the Indian Ocean and in Behring Sea; but they have been so recklessly slaughtered that now the creature is nearly unknown, except a few in Africa near Cape Verde and the Cape of Good Hope; some few along the coast of South America, and those that inhabit the rivers of Florida. The manatee, like the buffalo of the Western plains, is likely soon to be extinct. The manatees of the Eastern hemisphere seem to have been much larger than those of Florida.[76] Eight or ten feet is the usual length of the American manatee. Efforts have been made to raise the animals in captivity, but they do not thrive. One was kept sixteen months in the aquarium at Brighton, England, and was fed on lettuce, cabbage, turnips, thistles, and dandelions. Let us now look at the animal in its favorite home, the Santa Lucia River in Florida. Manatees live in droves or herds, and prefer shallow to deep water. When they move up the river they keep well to the centre of the stream, as they are very timid. They rest near to the banks where they find plenty of grass and lily-pads to shelter them. Manatees come from the West Indies and Central and South America to the Santa Lucia River, to rear their young among the thick vegetation. They arrive early in May and remain until late in the autumn. Here is our manatee; let us take a good look at it. It has a gray wrinkled skin; no fin on the back; a stiff, thick, shovel-shaped tail, with a flat tail-fin; a moderate sized oval head with small eyes; a very small under lip. The nostrils are two slits of a half-moon shape; the ear is a little orifice, set not far behind the eye. The sight of the manatee is good, but its hearing is something extraordinary. Probably no other animal has ears so acute. If a blade of grass or a leaf drops into the water the manatee hears it and darts away, for it is as timid as it is harmless. To the shoulders of the manatee are attached the flipper-like arms, which it uses so readily. When in shallow water the creature supports itself on the ends of the flippers and the tail, and thus raising its body it moves slowly about the sandy river bottom. Its food is purely vegetable, and it is interesting to watch it eat. If you notice a caterpillar, or a silkworm feeding on a leaf, you get a notion of the method of the manatee in eating, and its use of its odd double lip.