DOMESTICATION. 145 



or plenty of Swiss preserved milk, visits the Walrus hauuts and 

 thus solves the difficulty of weaning, it will not be easy to import 

 a young Walrus in good condition, and many of the interesting 

 habits and traits of this animal will remain unknown. Although 

 the calf of the previous season frequently accompanies the dam 

 with her more recent offspring, at that age the ' half- Walrus ' 

 is too unwieldy a beast to be captured alive ; if this were prac- 

 ticable, there can be no doubt its nutrition would be a simple 

 matter." * 



From the foregoing accounts of the survival for a considera- 

 ble period in captivity, and from the hardships we are told the 

 third London (1867) specimen t survived during its long voyage 

 to London, it is evident that with a sufficient supply of proper 

 food, and due arrangement for the comfort of the captives dur- 

 ing transportation, coupled with a speedy voyage, as by steam- 

 ship, young Walruses might easily be taken in numbers and 

 brought safely to southern ports. Whether, however, they 

 could long endure the great change of climate they would be 

 thus forced to experience is a matter of more uncertainty, yet 

 they in all probability would not sutler more than the Polar 

 Bear, or the Sea Lions and Sea Bears, which have of late been 

 frequently seen in different zoological gardens. A Sea Lion, as 

 is well known, not only survived a voyage from Buenos Ayres, 



* Yaclat-iiig in the Arctic Seas, p. 82. 



tTMs specimen was captured iu Davis Strait, Aiigust 25, "by a noose 

 swung over his head and one fore limb from the ship and hauled on board. 

 For some days the captive was kept tied to a ring-bolt on deck, and refused 

 food altogether. Subsequently he was induced to swallow thin strips of 

 boiled pork, and was thus fed until the vessel reached the Shetlands, when 

 a supply of fresh mussels was provided for its use. A large box with openings 

 at the sides was fabricated ; and the animal, secured therein, was brought 

 safely to Dundee on the 26th ult. [October]. From that port to London 

 the Walrus had been conveyed in the steamer 'Anglia' under the care of the 

 society's superintendent." Proc. ZoiiL Soc. Lond., 1867, p. 819. Mr. Bartlett 

 further says, in referring to the specimen: "As regards the present animal, 

 I may state that on my arrival at Dundee, on the 29th of October, I found 

 the young Walrus in a very restless state, and, as I thought, hungry; it was 

 being fed upon large mussels ; about twenty of these were opened at a meal, 

 and the poor beast was fed about three times a day. [!] I immediately told 

 the owners that I thought the animal was being starved. Stevens at once 

 agreed and a codfish was procured from the neighborhood, and by me cut 

 into long thin strips. On offering these pieces of cod to the animal, he greed- 

 ily devoured them. Since that time I have fed the Walrus upon fish, mussels, 

 irlidks, clams, and the stom/'lin aud intestine* and other soft parts of fishes cut 

 small; for I liiul that it cannot swallow anything larger than a walnut." 

 Ibid., pp. 819, 820. 



Misc. Pub. No. 12 10 



