six knots, when a whale played
about for a time, and then rose and spouted just under the bow,
covering the forecastle with spray. The captain, who was standing
by me, quite expected a shock, and exclaimed--"Look out! hold on!"

SIRENIA--THE MANATEES.

This group contains the _phytophagous_ or _herbivorous_ cetacea.
Their teeth have flat crowns, and they live on aquatic vegetation,
though, according to Cuvier, they sometimes leave the water for
pasture on shore, but this has not been authenticated, and is
probably a mistake. The other characteristics of the group are
pectoral mammae and hairy moustaches. The anterior narial aperture
in the skull opens upwards, but the orifices of the nostrils are
placed at the end of the muzzle. The stomach is complex, being divided
into four sacs, and they have a large caecum. The flippers are broad,
and the animal uses them with some dexterity in supporting its young
in the act of suckling. As at such times they frequently raise the
upper part of the body out of water, they have given rise to the
ancient fables regarding mermaids and sirens. There is something
human-like, although repulsive, in the aspect of these creatures,
especially in the erect attitude just alluded to. No wonder the
ancient mariners, with their restricted knowledge and inclination
to the marvellous, should have created the fabulous mermaid,
half-fish and half-woman, and have peopled the rocks and seas of
Ceylon with seductive sirens with imaginary flowing tresses and
sweet ensnaring voices. As regards the latter it may be that the
strange phenomena related by Sir Emerson Tennent, of musical sounds
ascending from the bottom of the sea, and ascribed by him to certain
shell-fish, gave rise to the mermaid's song. Sir Emerson's account
has in itself a touch of the romantic and marvellous. He says: "On
coming to the point mentioned I distinctly heard the sounds in
question. They came up from the water like the gentle thrills of a
musical chord, or the faint vibrations of a wineglass when its rim
is rubbed by a moistened finger. It was not one sustained note, but
a multitude of tiny sounds, each clear and distinct in itself, the
sweetest treble mingling with the lowest bass. On applying the ear
to the wood-work of the boat the vibration was greatly increased in
volume." Similar sounds have been heard elsewhere in the Indian seas,
and doubtless the ancients connected this mysterious music of the
ocean with the anim