CHAPTER XXIX. 



The Walrus. — Resemblance to both Man and Hovse — Is Gregarious. — 

 A Sleeping Herd. — Food of the Walru.s. — Its Courage. — Maternal 

 Affection. — Chase by Land. — Cliase by Water. — How Harpooned. 

 • — Daring of the Harpooner. — The Ca])taiii's Experience — Value 

 of the Wah-iis. 



^pHE Walrus, Sea Horse, or Morse {Sralross, Sw.; 

 -■- -Roswf/r, Norw.; J/ors/^, Lapp. ; Trichechtts Eosmarits, 

 Linn.), has found a place in the Scandinavian Fauna. 

 Although at the present day this animal is very rarely 

 seen on the coasts of the Peninsula, yet in olden times it 

 Avould almost seem to have been a resident, or at least a 

 pretty constant visitant, there being good reason to believe 

 it Avas regularly hunted by the ancient Northmen for its 

 skin and tusks, the value of which were perfectly well 

 understood even in their day. 



The proper home of the walrus is the Polar regions, 

 where it is found almost everywhei-e; not, it is true, in 

 the same abundance as formei-ly, " war to the kuife " 

 having for centuries been carried on against it, but still 

 in considerable numbers. In southern latitudes it is 

 seldom observed, and the instances are few and far 

 between of its visiting the British Isles. 



