WHALES, SEALS AND WALRUSES 



only a few moments it evidenced signs of great distress. 

 It showed eagerness to obey his sHghtest whim ; and the 

 tricks Le Blanc taught it have probably never been 

 equalled — such as balancing balls, bottles and other 

 objects; climbing ladders, firing cannons, clapping its 

 fins, putting itself to bed, and many other feats of skill. 

 Its range of vocal sounds and intelligence in uttering 

 them certainly made it the nearest thing to a fish that 

 actually talked that has ever been seen. It died in 1867 

 through inadvertently swallowing some hooks which had 

 been left in the fish with which it was fed. 



Walruses live among the ice of the Arctic coasts. The 

 name is a modification of the Scandinavian valross — 

 "whale-horse". A full-grown male measures from ten to 

 twelve feet, although specimens have been recorded of 

 fifteen feet and more. There is force in the old description 

 of the animal: ''As large as an ox and as thick as a hogs- 

 head." An aquatic mammal, allied to the seals, the 

 walrus differs from them in possessing an enormous pair 

 of tusks, corresponding to the canine teeth of other 

 mammals. These tusks are formidable weapons, but their 

 principal use seems to be in digging and scraping among 

 sand or shingle for the molluscs and crustaceans on 

 which the creature feeds; although it is said they also 

 use them to hook themselves up onto the ice. Like the 

 seal, the walrus is a stone-swallower — some writers say 

 that it is to give them a sense of fullness when very 

 hungry. 



The greatest enemy of the walrus, next to man, is the 

 polar bear. Fights between the two beasts are frequent, 

 and many full-grown walruses carry marks of such con- 

 flicts. Yet the walrus is otherwise a quiet and inoffensive 

 animal, loyal to its mate, tenderly careful of its young — it 

 will fight to the death to protect them — and capable of 

 "domestication" if this is begun early enough. 



To the Eskimo the walrus is a prime necessity of life. 

 There have been cases where hundreds of Eskimos have 



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