1915] WAITING FOR THE SHIP 181 



Allen, Green, and Hunt left in our twenty-one-foot dory 

 for the hunting-grounds below Cape Alexander, followed 

 on the 21st by Ka-ko-tchee-a, Ah-now-ka, E-say-oo, in 

 kayaks, and myself in the twelve-foot punt. Ekblaw 

 and Tanquary remained at Borup Lodge, the former in 

 charge of meteorological work during our absence. 



At Retreat Cove, fifteen miles south, we overtook the 

 boys, sound asleep in camp. We carefully removed the 

 sleeping-bags belonging to my Eskimos from the dun- 

 nage in the boat, and proceeded on to Sulwuddy, our 

 objective point, eight miles below. 



The boys joined us at noon of the 22d. 



Walrus are generally very numerous in this locality. 

 Many were passing along the shore, and large herds 

 were feeding in the shallow water upon their staple 

 food, bivalved molluscs, the Mya truncata and the 

 Saxicava rugosa, rooted out of the sand and mud with 

 their long ivory tusks. As a result, when the walrus 

 are killed they often furnish the Eskimos with a nice 

 fresh mess of shelled clams readily obtained from the 

 stomach and eaten raw. Other foods of the walrus 

 are sandworms, starfishes, shrimps, and even seals, 

 as shown by meat and strips of skin found in the 

 stomach. 



Known as the sea-horse, or morse, a hundred years 

 ago, and of prodigious size and in incredible numbers, 

 the walrus figure largely in Arctic history, being greatly 

 prized for the value of the ivory tusks and the tre- 

 mendously strong hide. The Greenland tithes of more 

 than 600 years ago were paid in "ox-hides, sealskins, 

 and walrus ivory." 



"They paid their tribute to the Crusades in the shape 

 of walrus tusks, delivered at Bergen in 1327, and their 



