430 THE WORLD OF THE SEA. 
Probably they acted thus from natural instinct, to prevent his being 
suffocated. 
There is a tale told of some fishermen, who, having discovered 
a little morse at Spitzbergen, in a cave on the edge of -the sea, 
seized it and put it in their boat. The father and mother, furious 
at the loss of their offspring, followed ; and one of them, fastening 
on to the side of the boat, made it incline so much towards the 
water, that one of the fishermen slipped into the sea. The other 
morse flung himself upon him with such rage, that it was impossible 
to save the unfortunate man. 
On another occasion, also at Spitzbergen, a canoe attacked 
A MORSE AND ITS LITTLE ONES, 
( Trichechus rosmarus.) 
a pair of these animals. The female was wounded while she was 
suckling her young, which was clinging to her breast. The male, 
to avenge her, gave the boat a tremendous shake. The mother 
made her way, in spite of her wounds (and she had three lances 
deep in her breast), towards a block of ice, all the while clasping 
her little one with her left fin. Having reached the ice, she set 
down her burden, but the little creature instantly returned to the 
boat with such fury that he would certainly have upset it if he 
had had strength. He received a wound on his head, and went 
back to his mother, who was crawling painfully from block to 
block. The male, dreading a second attack, took his unfortunate 
mate with his teeth, and dragging her to the water swam away 
until they were beyond the reach of their enemies. 
—————— 
