ENEMIES. 139 



basis in fact, is of interest in its bearing upon the mythical history 

 of the Walrus. In fact, Dr. Kane, on the other hand, says : " The 

 generally-received idea of the Polar Bear battling with the Wal- 

 rus meets little favor among the Esquimaux of Smith's Straits. 

 My own experience is directly adverse to the truth of the story. 

 The Walrus is never out of reach of water, and, in his peculiar 

 element, is without a rival. I have seen the Bear follow the 

 Ussuk [Bearded Seal, Erignafhus larbatus] by diving ; but the 

 tough hide and great power of the Walrus forbid such an at- 

 tack." * 



The Walrus is also greatly persecuted with parasites. These, 

 according to Brown, are two species of Hcematopinus, one of 

 which invariably infests the base of the mystacial bristles, and 

 the other its body. " I have seen," says this writer, "the Wal- 

 rus aw liking loudly on the ice, tumbling about and rushing back 

 from the water to the ice, and from the ice to the water, and then 

 swimming off to another piece, and repeating the same ope- 

 ration, as if in pain. A few hours afterwards I saw a flock 

 of Saxicola cenanthe (it was on a land floe, close to the Fru 

 Islands) alight 011 the spot. On going over, I found the ice 

 speckled with one of these species of Hcematopinus, on which the 

 birds had been feeding ; and the unfortunate Walrus seems to 

 have been in the throes of clearing itself of these troublesome 

 friends, after the approved fashion. Subsequently I have seen 

 these and other small birds alight on the back of the Walrus to 

 peck at these insects, just as crows may be seen sitting on the 

 backs of cattle in our fields." t It seems also to be infested with 

 intestinal parasites. Dr. Murie, $ in his report upon the causes 

 of the death of the specimen in the Zoological Society's Gardens, 

 found it infested by a species of Ascaris (A. Mcolor, Baird) to 

 such an extent that it was probably the cause of its death. He 

 states that he removed from its stomach about "half a pailful" 

 of small round worms, two and a half to three inches in length. 

 Their presence had evidently induced chronic gastritis, death 

 resulting from ulceration. Circumstances seemed to indicate 

 that they had not been introduced with its food since its cap- 

 ture, but that it was infested Avith them before its capture and 

 confinement. 



* Arctic Exploration, vol. i, p. 263. 

 tProc. Zool. Soc. Loud., 1868, p. 430. 

 tlbid., pp. 67-71. 



