180 ODOBJSNUS OBESU8 PACIFIC WALRUS. 



and clumsy in the water and almost helpless on land, their im- 

 mense bulk and weight, in comparison with the size and strength 

 of their limbs, rendering them quite impotent for terrestrial 

 movement. " Like the seal, it swims entirely under water when 

 traveling, not rising, however, quite so frequently to breathe j 

 then it 'blows' not unlike a whale. On a cool, quiet May 

 morning, I watched a herd oft* the east coast of the island, 

 tracing its progress by the tiny jets of vapor thrown off as the 

 animals rose to respire. 



" In landing and climbing over the low rocky shelves," he 

 continues, " this animal is almost as clumsy and indolent as 

 the sloth ; they crowd up from the water, one after the other, 

 in the most ungainly manner, accompanying their movements 

 with low grunts and bellowmgs ; the first one up from the sea 

 no sooner gets composed upon the rocks for sleep than the sec- 

 ond one comes prodding ' and poking with its blunt tusks, de- 

 manding room also, and causing the first to change its position 

 to another still farther off from the water ; and the second is 

 in turn treated in the same way by the third, and so on, until 

 hundreds will be packed together on the shore as thickly as 

 they can lie, frequently pillowing their heads or posteriors upon 

 the bodies of one another, and not at all quarrelsome ; as they 

 pass all the time when on land in sluggish basking or deep 

 sleep, they seem to resort to a very irregular method of keep- 

 ing guard, if I may so term it, for in this herd of three or four 

 hundred bulls under my eye, though all were sleeping, yet the 

 movement of one would disturb the other, which would raise 

 its head in a stupid manner, grunt once or twice, and before 

 lying down to sleep again, in a few moments, it would strike 

 the slumbering form of its nearest companion with its tusks, 

 causing that animal to rouse up for a few minutes also, grunt 

 and pass the blow on to the next in the same manner, and so 

 on, through the whole herd; this disturbance among themselves 

 always kept some one or two aroused, and consequently more 

 alert than the rest. 



" In moving on laud they have no power in the hind limbs, 

 which are dragged and twitched up behind; progression is 

 slowly and tediously made by a succession of short steps for- 

 ward on the fore feet. How long they remain out from the 

 water at any one time I am unable to say. Unlike the seals, 

 they breathe heavily and snore. 



" The natives told me the walrus of Bering Sea is monoga- 



