THE WALRUS. 



203 



138. — Walrus, or Morse. 



into the sea; should one be wounded, its companions 

 hasten with loud cries to the rescue, and, emboldened by 

 their numbers, assail the boat with great ferocity, and 

 endeavour to upset or break it with their powerful tusks. 

 The thickness and toughness of the skin render it no 

 easy matter to drive a lance or harpoon into the animal's 

 body, and a sharp weapon not unfrequently glances off 

 without piercing. When wounded on shore, the morse 

 turns furiously upon its adversary, striking right and left 

 with its tusks, and endeavouring to dash him to the 

 ground ; then, roaring with pain and fury, it makes off 

 into the sea, where it is joined by its companions. 

 Zorgdrager, in his description of the Greenland fishery 

 (1750), states that, before the morse had been so perse- 

 cuted, large troops would often advance on the shore to 

 a considerable distance from the edge of the water, so 

 that it was easy to cut ofJ' their retreat, and the more so 

 as the animals exhibited no alarm on seeing the approach 

 of the hunters, who would often kill several before the 



