82 THE NORTH POLE 



skin, and a float is made of the entire skin of a seal 

 filled with air for buoyancy. 



"A thing we soon learned to look out for was to 

 let this thong, which was neatly coiled up like a lasso 

 before it was thrown, have the right of way and all 

 the space it needed; for if it happened to take a turn 

 around one of our legs when the other end was fast to 

 a walrus, we would be missing that useful member, 

 and be pulled into the water — and possibly drowned. 



"Now a crew that goes through a scrimmage with 

 these monsters develops teamplay of a high order 

 in a surprisingly short time. The sailor would steer, 

 four Eskimos would row, and in the bow would be 

 the best harpooner with one of us beside him. The 

 two men forward would enable the men rowing to 

 be spelled, if we had a long chase. 



"I shall never forget my first mix-up with a herd. 

 We had sighted about ten walruses two miles away, 

 and MacMillan and I, Dennis Murphy, a sailor, 

 and three Eskimos manned a whale-boat, and off we 

 went. About two hundred yards from the walruses 

 we quit rowing and let Murphy scull us, while Mac 

 and I crouched side by side in the bow, the Eskimos 

 with their harpoons being ready right behind us. 



"When we were about twenty yards from the 

 herd, one bull woke up, gave a grunt, poked another, 

 woke him, and then — bang! bang! bang! we opened 

 fire. Mac had a Winchester automatic rifle, and 

 he got off five shots so fast that before the first 

 one left the muzzle the other four were chasing it. 

 He dropped a large bull, which gave a convulsive flop 

 and rolled into the water with a splash. I hit a couple, 



