174 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Aug. 



I have seen many walrus die, but never one so hard. 

 Wounded again and again by the killing-iron and shot 

 at least six times, he persisted in living. I understand 

 now why the explorer of old declared that to shoot a 

 walrus was impossible. Finally, the wounded walrus 

 lay on his back on the surface of the water, placed both 

 front flippers up over his head, and deliberately covered 

 his eyes. The act, though accidental, seemed pathet- 

 ically human. If I could have given him back his life, 

 I would have gladly done so. 



The next day Ak-pood-a-shah-o harpooned a cow with 

 young. The herd remained with her, leading us in the 

 dory far toward the south. We succeeded in grasping 

 the drag after some hard pulling. To this we fastened 

 a long line which could be released quickly if the walrus 

 should pass beneath a berg. Twice we fastened this 

 line to a floe-berg to retard the progress. It was a 

 strange sight: a floe harnessed to a walrus accompanied 

 by six others; and on the floe a white man with an 

 Eskimo very much excited, the former armed with a 

 harpoon, the latter with a rifle; and, towed by the floe, 

 a dory containing two women with babies on their 

 backs and a small girl. The babies were yelling, the 

 girl was wild-eyed, and the two women were vigorously 

 pounding the rail, one with a dipper and the other with 

 an oar, to prevent the walrus from attacking them. In 

 attempting to shoot the mother the young walrus was 

 killed. The mother at once turned, gave the battle- 

 cry, and charged, followed by all the others. For a 

 moment the situation seemed serious, but was quickly 

 relieved by the shooting of the mother and two others. 



The wind was now increasing and the tide ebbing; 

 quick work was demanded of us all. Quickly rigging 



