72() Proceedings of the national museum. vol. xxvm. 



(lid not exhibit any feeling of alarm a.s we approached; one or two 

 could he s(HMi droppino- into the water, but it was not until we had got 

 within a few yards of them that, as if })y a preconcerted signal, they 

 rolled or tuml)led into the sea, and for a time became invisil)le. They 

 appeared to live in perfect harmon}", a lazy, listless air characterized 

 the whole. I could not but admire the affection displayed by the dam 

 for her young which were crawling on the maternal back as we 

 approached; but the moment the mothers perceived the danger, they 

 seized them under their arms and disappeared; nor did we see them 

 again at the surface until there existed no cause for alarm, Green- 

 land Arctic seamen consider the 'marine beef of this animal excellent 

 eating, an opinion concurred in b}^ all medical men who have been 

 engaged in polar explorations/' 



General Greely gives latitude IS)^ 40' north as the highest probable 

 range of the walrus. It is indigenous in Hudson Bay and strait and 

 also in many other portions of the northern ocean. 



HARBOR SEAL. 



PJiDca rituliiui LiniUfUS. 



Tiiis is pr()l)a]jlv the most generally distributed and a]>undant of all 

 the northern species of hair seals. I l)olieve it is also the most numer- 

 ous in the coast seas of arctic America. The Anderson and Mackenzie 

 River F^skimos kill a great many annually. It is a very valuable 

 and useful animal for them; its skin is necessary for making boots and 

 hunting canoes and other purposes. Its dark and rather unsighth" 

 flesh and extracted oil are among the chief and most esteemed articles 

 in their yearly diet; the latter is also used in their stone lamps 

 for light, heat, and cooking their food. We noticed some seals on 

 the ice, basking in the sun, on each on(^ of our four summer trips 

 (1862 to 1.S05) to Franklin I^jay. The Eskimos with us killed a few 

 with the })OWs and arrows. Our Indian assistants did not seem to 

 relish the rather disagreeable-looking flesh, ])ut the Eskimos par- 

 took thereof with avidity. Doctor Armstrong, of the Invei<tigatoi\ 

 observed many and secured several examples of this species in the 

 waters of Baring Land. It has also been met with by other arctic 

 explorers. Sir Leopold McClintock's party secured IT examples of 

 the smaller seals at Port Kennedy. During their eight months' drift 

 in the pack ice, they killed 73 seals, 2 polar bears, 38 dovekies, and the 

 l)lue fox already referred to. On March 2, 1858, they shot -l fat seals 

 and several dovekies; the largest seal weighed 170 pounds and the 

 smallest 150 pounds. They were males of the species /"*. hispida. 

 The fl(\sh of this species was very disagreeable, a garlic-like taint so 

 strongly permeating the whole animal that even Eskimos are nearly 

 overpowered there})y, but the females are at all times free from fetor. 

 A week later two more seals were captured. The flesh being free 



