THE SEA ELEPHANT. 



413 



The Walrus is manifestly the most remarkable of all marine animals, in respect to its 

 uncouth bulk. It is a puzzle, seemingly. The reader should look at the enormous specimen 

 of this creature in the Museum at Central Park, to form anything approaching an adequate 

 idea of its proportions. When we observe the immense bulk, almost unprovided with limbs 

 (for the latter are so small they seem out of all proportion to the requirements), the wonder is, 

 how can the creature climb from the water to the ice or cliffs. The stout tusks are very ser- 

 viceable, doubtless, but they seem to our limited comprehension entirely in the way. It is 



SEA ELEPHANT. Cystophora proboscidea. 



difficult to see how the creature can feed with those ivory canines directed straight downwards. 

 Nature never fails of its purposes, but there are instances of organization and structure that 

 surprise us and baffle our comprehension. 



The Walrus is seen in vast herds at times, frequenting both polar seas. Two well-marked 

 species are known, that of the Pacific coast differing in some particulars from that of the 

 Atlantic. 



ANOTHER powerful and grotesque Seal now engages our attention. This is the ELEPHANT 

 SEAL, or SEA ELEPHANT, so called not only on account of the strange prolongation of the 

 nose, which bears some analogy to the proboscis of the elephant, but also on account of its 

 elephantine size. Large specimens of this monstrous Seal measure as much as thirty feet in 

 length, and fifteen or eighteen feet in circumference at the largest part of their bodies. 



The color of the Sea Elephant is rather variable, even in individuals of the same sex and 

 age, but is generally as follows. The fur of the male is usually of a bluish-gray, which some- 

 times deepens into dark brown, while that of the female is darker, and variegated with sundry 

 dapplings of a yellow hue. This animal is an inhabitant of the southern hemisphere, and is. 



