446 IS GREGARIOUS. 



of the ship actually reported to me his having seen 

 a man •«ith his head just appearing ahove the surface 

 of the water." 



The motions of the walrus on shoi'e, for which its 

 limbs would seem little adajjted, are slow and clumsy. 

 "Their gait," Martens tells us, "is a kind of jerking; 

 they can make considerable springs, and can advance 

 pretty rapidly, with the help of their teeth. When they 

 continue on land they nevertheless appear to be — and 

 to a great extent certainly are — sluggish brutes." If, 

 however, the animal be in the water, its proper element, 

 and for which its organs are beautifully fitted, all 

 its members have free scope, and Avork to the admiration 

 of those who behold them. Wliether descending into 

 the dej)ths of the sea, or swimming along its surface, 

 its members are perfectly suited for their exigencies. 

 Hence Zorgdrager states, " It is just as difficult to follow 

 the walrus with boats in rowing as it is to follow 

 the whale itself." 



The walrus is gregarious, and would seem to be in a 

 remarkable degree social. "VVc hear little of these animals 

 in solitude or single pairs, but united together in num- 

 bers ; often, indeed, in immense droves. Lord Shuldham, 

 in his interesting account of this animal, and when 

 speaking of the Magdalen Islands, in the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence, says that in former times they used to collect 

 lliere in herds of from 7,000 to 8,000. Captain Cook also 

 relates having met with herds of many hundreds together, 

 "whose roaring and braying was so loud that in the 

 night, or in foggy weather, they gave us notice of the 

 vicinity of the ice before we could see it." 



This crowding together on land of so many awkward 

 and noisy creatures frequently gives rise to singular 

 spectacles. " The moment the fii'st is ashore, so as to 

 lie drv, it will not stir till another comes and forces 



