New-York tribune., 1901-01-13
M4NATEE HUNTING.
A WINTER SPORT IN SOUTHERN WATERS.
AND HOW IT IS CARRIED ON.
From The Pail Mall Gazette.

With With the approach of late autumn to many lucky
thoughts of winter yachting in the AntiIlano Arch
ipelago About the best days sport TO be got
although the manatee now frequents the islands
in much smaller numbers than formerly. The
either the Steer the Californian lion, the
the one found in the Brazilian rivers, the other
reefs Of Florida; OF the measurements of all the
species of sea lion grossly Munchausenlike tales
lion exceeding seven, or perhaps eight, feet has
attained this length is a freak Yet, though the
game be rarer and OF less heroic proportions than
IN the days of fernando de Soto when on account
of its unpalatably fishy taste. the Franciscan
fathers of Habana partook of it with '.penitcn-
tial grirnaces on jours maigres. who that has
caught up his spear under the tempered glare of
along the amber sand that edges one of the river
creeks of an island in the Caribbean can forget
low snort. lying at the bottom of shallow. the
manatee supports himself by the extremity OF his
tervals OF two or three minutes, in order to
;, II may not however be the snort. that, the sea
nd mon hShter m hears II ne be d IN & {ns
the gently swishing water, of the forelimbs, which
are of great fieXibility in swimming. and which,
caused the early Spanish colonsts to christen the
manatee can move these forelmbs in ali direc-
Tee adon the e0T s a9d nrn % Of g a4s M
water IS when the game Is in midstream almost
seal-like bleat of the cow when gamboIIing with
her pups the American manatee. unlike its relative
nearly vOiceless, and. therefore, very difficult of 10
Tad Ia Is Tom NoTembf fo anuaTy ne %
elusive. during which months the water is generally
udious about temperature. disliking extremes.
''northers'-the cold winds blowing Intermiftentiy
from the north from November to February-inter-
than forty-eight hours duration In the Wind 'gard
Islands and Florida sport can be had from Deem
For a November hunt it is advisable to call the
sun is not overPowering. though strong enough to
acute hearing. and although its hold has been de-
tected by the sportsman as he came shoreward. by
the time that the boats, their oarlocks swathed in
strips Of palm leaf to muffle the click of the
have pushed off-beinG of course. between the game
itself TO his feeding ground. Sea lions feed in
the food toward the mouth With one or both hands
From these characteristics probably arose the
Leon who did some manatee hunting when on his
youth-that the manatee carries IT'S young in its
arms If the chronicles are TO be relied on, Ponce
haul only by consideration for the human quail
adays the manatee hunter does not find things so
easy 1t is not that. escaping from his hold the
suers. for he is extremely inactive of habit the
tS a lies IL hitting upon tEees he Tbnn 0ag 6
these interminably indented Antiano riyers-blaclS
roofs of cedar and mango and caoba-in which he
has sought refuge under
Soundless and colorless water that knows the
In this emergency the plan adopted three hun
dFed years ago MAS dasaGra az tells US to Place nn ne
each bank of the creek. At a given signal the
frantcally and yelled to correspond. AS the man
is either too stupid or too lazy TO move in any
inevitably netted, shot or speared -,-.-,, -.
For there is too much of the drive about
this Moreover, he of the creek is but one of
family. Out TO the bosom of the river shoot our
of heat flash back the light like mirrors, so that,
while the colored boatman softly rows the white
SpO standing !
PROV. is fain to refresh his eyes for a moment or
bank ere he turn them again on the gittering bit
of water which each boat is beating 6 as sn d
ing a lion hunt for, if a second manatee has
est echo of pursuit he floats the body arched and
the rounded chestnut colored back sufficiently under
the surface 10 be unobservable until close upon the
manner as the air sack Of fishes. The instant in
which he catches a glimpse OF that red brown
hump barely two feet under the clear surface is the
rope has been unloosed ready; the harpoon speeds
yulsive writhing and pulling and Jerkins the negro
boatman is on his knees in the boat steadying the
nervous fingers Of the sportsman are reeing in the
harpoon to miss its mark by one second!
Not hint not suspicion, Of Its whereabouts
does not stay under water for than from five
to eight minutes at time it seems able when
beneath the surface for something like twenty
rises in a pool near the left bank From the bubble
circles girde and double and treble themselves,
the river Stealthily, the boat gdes nearer and
nearer. Whether from constitutional inertia
the enervating effect upon it of the now much
warmer current the game is If dormant float
ing, Emphatic, under the unstirred blossoms OF
some water waits Of the lotus genus. The well
known keeny looked for hump curves itself. seem
ingy molten now, against the fiercer gold that fur
rows the water. In the boat the resting
in the rowlocks; there is another unge-silent,
swift. and this time sure-of the harpoon. Then,
the for the shore the rattle of the reeling in
and the triumphal landing of the game, amid the
clatter and chatter of the negroes. whose award is
the SPOIL, oil of which they sell. cutting the
flesh into strips which when dried. are called
tasajo, and twisting out OF the cured skin those
curious canes which to be bought in the shops
of Habana and Port-au-Prince.
SAME BADGE; DIFFERENT MEANING.
The w