I3 o CARNIVORES. 



wounded comrade. When one of the herd is wounded, all its fellows are stated to 

 combine too-ether for its defence ; and on such occasions the aspect of the animals 

 is described as absolutely terrific. Either through confidence in their size and 

 power, or from want of appreciation of danger, walruses when on shore or on the 

 ice can often be approached very closely, and may thus be easily dispatched ; they 

 learn, however, greater caution with experience. In other cases they seem to be 

 more vigilant on all occasions, having a certain number of their body acting as 

 sentinels. In hunting them the great object is to cut off their retreat to the 

 water, as if they once gain the open sea they generally escape. The number of 

 walruses formerly found on the ice-floes of Spitzbergen was so great, and so thickly 

 were the creatures crowded together, that an eye-witness wrote of them as pre- 

 senting the appearance of solid islands of animals. 



The walrus feeds chiefly upon thick-shelled bivalve molluscs, 

 especially those commonly known as gapers. For crushing the shells 

 of these molluscs the stunted and short cheek-teeth of the walrus are admirably 

 adapted ; but it appears that, after being broken, the shells themselves are rejected, 

 and only the soft portions of the molluscs swallowed. This molluscan diet is also 

 supplemented by fish and various crustaceans ; while in addition to these, large 

 quantities of sea-weed are also swallowed, although it is quite probable that their 

 introduction into the creature's mouth is not intentional. It appears to be now 

 ascertained beyond doubt that the chief use of the tusks of the walrus is to dig in 

 the mud and ooze for the purpose of raking up the molluscs, on which it feeds so 

 largely. Dr. R. Brown states, however, that he has seen walruses employ their 

 tusks to aid in dragging their unwieldy bodies on to the ice, and also to aid their 

 clumsy progress when on land. These observations are fully confirmed by Dr. 

 Kane, who states that he has known walruses in this manner drag themselves on 

 rocky islands to heights of sixty or a hundred feet above the level of the water. 



The walrus is killed when on land or ice either by means of long- 

 lances, or with rifles ; while when at sea it is chased with special 

 boats and harpooned. Allusion has already been made to the enormous numbers 

 of these animals killed in the Magdalen Islands, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in the 

 sixteenth and seventeenth centuries ; but one more instance of an enormous de- 

 struction of these animals may be referred to in greater detail. This occurred in 

 the summer of 1852, on Thousand Island, lying off the south-west coast of Spitz- 

 bergen. Here, writes the narrator, Mr. Lamont, "two small sloops, sailing in 

 company, approached the island, and soon discovered a herd of walruses, number- 

 ing, as they calculated, from three to four thousand, reposing upon it. Four boats' 

 crews, or sixteen men, proceeded to the attack with spears. One great mass of 

 walruses lay in a small sandy bay, with rocks inclosing it on each side, and on a 

 little mossy flat above the bay, but to which the bay formed the only convenient 

 access for such unwieldy animals. A great many hundreds lay on other parts of 

 the island at a little distance. The boats landed a little way off, so as not to 

 frighten them, and the sixteen men, creeping along shore, got between the sea and 

 the bay, full of walruses before mentioned, and immediately commenced stabbing 

 the animals next them. The walrus, although so active and fierce in the water, is 

 very unwieldy and helpless on shore, and those in front soon succumbed to the 



