ALASKA. IGI 



. helpless oh the rocks out of it, and can no more move on land, 

 like even the lowest of the seals, i'Aom, than can the hii)popot- 

 amus run witli the antelope; the immense bulk and weight 

 compared ^vith the size and stren;:;th of its limi)s renders it 

 quite impotent for terrestrial movement. Like the seal, it 

 swims entirely under water when iravelino-, not rising, how- 

 ever, quite so frequently to breathe; then it "blows"' not unlike 

 a whale. On a cool, quiet morning in .May, I watched a herd 

 otf the east coast of the island, tracing its progress by the tiny 

 jets of vapor thrown off as tiie animals rose to respire. 



The adult male is about 12 feet in length from nostrils to tip 

 of tail and has 10 or 12 feet of girth, and one bull, shot by the 

 natives on Walrus Island, July 5, 1872, was nearly 13 feet long, 

 with the enormous girth of 14 feet. The immense mass of 

 blubber on the shoulders and around the neck makes the head 

 and posteriors look small in proportion and attenuated. 



The strange flattened appearance of the head will be better 

 understood by reference to the plate, where the nostrils, eyes, 

 and ear-spots seem to be nearly placed on top of the head, the 

 nasal apertures especially so, opening directly over the muzzle, 

 oval, and about an inch in their greatest diameter. 



The tusks, or canines, are set firmly under the nostril-aper- 

 tures, in a deep, massive, bony pocket, giving a broad, square- 

 cut front to the muzzle. They grow down, varying in size 

 and weight from 8 or 10 inches in length to over 2 feet, and 

 from five pounds to fifteen, usually bowed out somewhat in the 

 middle, the ends approaching quite closely. The larger tushes 

 have a diameter at the heel of a little more than 2.^ inches, 

 tapering down to less than half an inch at the tip. 



The upper lips are thick and gristly, full of short, stubbed, 

 gray-white bristles, from one-half to three inches long. There 

 are a few bristles set, also, on the chin of the lower jaw. 



The eyes are small, but prominent, placed nearly on top of 

 the head, protruding from their sockets like those of the lob- 

 ster. They are rolled about iu every direction when the ani- 

 mal is startled. The iris and pupil is less than one-fourth of 

 the exposed surface; the sclerotic coat bulges out from the 

 lids, and is of a dirty, mottled coffee-yellow and brown, with 

 an occasional admixture of white; the iris, light-brown, with 

 dark-brown rays and spots. The animal has the power to roll 

 the eyes when aroused, seldom moving the head more than to 

 elevate it; but the range of sight out of water is not well 

 11 AL 



