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Show 454 PROF. W. H. FLOWER ON THE MANATEE. [Apr. 5, While speaking upon this subject to the late Mr. R. B. Dobree, who had travelled much in the West Indies, he assured m e that it was there a well-known fact, of which he had been frequently informed by eye-witnesses, that Manatees are in the habit of coming out of the water to feed. As he was then on the point of setting out on a journey along the west coast of Africa, among various subjects connected with zoology which he proposed to investigate, this was suggested ; and it was his intention to collect as much information as possible, either from personal observation or derived from trustworthy sources, in the hope of setting the question at rest. Unhappily an untimely death, brought on by exposure in an open boat while engaged in exploring the shores and river-mouths in that treacherous climate, put an end to these researches and to many others which his friends hoped his zeal for natural history and keen powers of observation would in future enable him to make. In his journal (for the perusal of which I a m indebted to our mutual friend Lord Walsingham) the following remarks were found relating to this subject (He is describing a trip to the Scarcies, Sierra Leone, under the date of Oct. 26th, 1 8 7 9 ) :- " As we went down from Kikonkeh to the sea I was shown a place in which the Manatee particularly rejoices, and I saw one of the native contrivances for his capture. He goes on land at night ' to eat grass' or the young shoots of the mangrove, of which I believe he is fond ; and often he is caught in kraals or traps on the eel-basket principle of a gradually narrowing entrance. When the creature is safely enclosed, the owner of the trap goes in at it with a cutlass and spear, and manages to dispatch him in spite of the spirited resistance which, according to the accounts here, he offers. I was informed that when two or three Manatees are enclosed, the owner of the trap usually lets go all but one, considering him quite enough to cope with. The Manatee is also often killed by a heavy and pointed beam of wood suspended on a kind of gallows placed at the end of a lead or avenue of cane fence made for him. A cord of liana or jungle-vine is passed across the path of the Manatee, and communicates with the beam, which is freed by his passage over the cord, and comes down upon his skull or spine, generally killing him immediately. About Bonny and Old Calabar there is a kind of freemasonry called Egboe. Before becoming a member of this sect, it is necessary that the candidate should present the society with a Manatee caught by hand. It must not be shot or netted, but must he caught by hand, and not necessarily caught by the candidate himself. The capture is effected at midnight, when the Manatee is surrounded, on dry land, after he has come up to feed on the grass in the corn-fields. H e often inflicts severe wounds on his assailants, who, I a m told, by splitting his tail two or three times, can prevent him from getting away. The natives protect their corn-fields usually by hanging up lamps or scarecrows. Manatee "beef" is excellent, and they say that it is like " pig beef;" but I have eaten it in the West Indies and thought it more like our English beef. There is a great deal of |