A WALRUS HUNT 85 



"Wesharkoopsi was not expecting a fight at such 

 close quarters, and he got badly rattled. Instead of 

 throwing his harpoon he dropped it, yelled madly, 

 and began to spit in the monster's face. It is need- 

 less to state that we never again took Wesharkoopsi 

 walrus-hunting in a whale-boat. 



"The others were shouting, swearing in English 

 and Eskimo at Wesharkoopsi, the walrus, and every- 

 thing in general; some were trying to hit the brute, 

 others to back water. 



"I was not eager just then to test the soundness 

 of one arctic explorer's dictum: 'If a walrus gets his 

 tusks over the side of the boat, you must not hit 

 him, as such a course would induce him to back water 

 and upset you; but gently grasp the two-thousand- 

 pound monster by the tusks and drop him overboard* 

 — or words to that effect. If this one had got his 

 tusks a quarter inch further my way, he would have 

 had them clear over the gunwale; so I held my rifle 

 at port arms, stuck its business end into the visitor's 

 face, and let him have it — which settled his account. 



"That walrus had tried to upset us, but almost 

 immediately another one tried a new variation of 

 the game, an almost successful effort to sink us — a 

 regular dive-tackle. 



"He was a large bull that an Eskimo had har- 

 pooned. He showed what he was made of by promptly 

 attacking the float and putting it out of commission, 

 then he proceeded to make off with the harpoon, 

 float, and all. He happened to come near my end of 

 the boat, and I shot at him; but whether I hit the mark 

 or not I do not know. Anyhow, he dived, and while 



