134 TIIE INHABITANTS OF THE SEA. 
fond of his own music. The party now formed in single file, 
and moved on in serpentine approach to the recently frozen ice 
spots, which were surrounded by older and firmer ice. When 
within half a mile the line broke, and each man crawled towards 
a separate pool. Ina few minutes the walruses were in sight, 
five in number, rising at intervals through the ice in a body 
with an explosive puff that might have been heard for miles. 
Two large grim-looking males made themselves conspicuous as 
leaders of the group. When the walrus is above the water, the 
hunter lies flat and motionless; as it begins to sink, he is alert 
and ready for a spring. The animal’s head is hardly below the 
water line, when every man advances in rapid run, and again, 
as if by instinct, before the beast returns, all are motionless 
behind protecting knolls of ice. In this way the Esquimaux have 
reached a plate of thin ice, hardly strong enough to bear them, 
at the very brink of the pool. Myouk, till now phlegmatie, 
seems to waken with excitement. <A coil of walrus hide lies by 
his side, and he grasps the harpoon, ready for action. Presently 
the water is in motion, and, puffing with pent-up respiration, the 
walrus rises before him. Myouk rises slowly, the right arm 
thrown back, the left flat at his side. The walrus looks about 
him, shaking water from his crest, Myouk throws up his left 
arm, and the animal, rising breast-high, fixes one look before he 
plunges. It has cost him all that curiosity can cost, for the 
harpoon lies buried under his left flipper.” The wounded animal 
makes a desperate spring, and endeavours to lift itself upon the 
ice, which breaks under its weight. These fruitless endeavours 
give its physiognomy a still more vengeful expression ; its bel- 
lowing degenerates into a roar, and crimson foam gathers round 
its mouth. 
The Ice-Bear (Ursus 
maritimus) may also be 
reckoned among the 
marine animals, as the 
sea affords him by far 
the greater part of his 
food. From the com- 
mon bear, whom he sur- 
passes in strength and 
size, as he attains a 
length of nine feet, and a height of four, he not only distin- 
Polar Bear (Urst.s marmiimus). 
