322 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA 



which formerly inhabited the frozen northland. 

 Many of those which were shot in the water sank and 

 could not be recovered. For this reason they were 

 more easily captured while on the ice. Often an entire 

 herd, found asleep on the ice, would be caught un- 

 awares and annihilated. Walruses are so near- 

 sighted, they do not see the hunters, and if the marks- 

 manship of the shooter is good, so that the animals 

 are instantly killed, the others pay little attention to 

 the reports of the gun. The bellowing of wounded 

 animals at once scares the whole herd into the water. 

 Their scent is much keener than their sight; when 

 the hunters are on the windward side, the walruses 

 are disturbed by the scent of the men, even though 

 they are some distance away. 



From 1870 to 1880, the height of the walrus in- 

 dustry was reached; the Pacific fleet captured 100,- 

 000 walruses, producing 400,000 pounds of ivory 

 and 2,000,000 gallons of oil. Now the walrus has be- 

 come so scarce that he is protected by law in many 

 parts of the north. Such protection cannot prevent 

 the natives from killing whatever animals they re- 

 quire for food, but it does keep the sealers from hunt- 

 ing them in the forbidden regions. 



After a walrus has been killed, the hide with the 

 blubber is stripped off the carcass. The blubber is 

 then removed from the hide, and the ivory tusks are 

 cut off. The blubber is usually converted into oil in 

 a try-pot. The strips of blubber are first minced, or 

 cut into small pieces about a half-inch thick. These 

 are placed in the pot, which is then heated over an 



