180 MARINE MAMMALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST. 
capturing the animals by the natives about the eastern coast of Behring Sea, and 
in the Arctic Ocean, is by shooting them when on shore with a rifle, and pursu- 
ing them when in the water with spears and lances. In approaching the animal in 
their skin -boats, a paddle formed from a slab of whalebone is employed to gently 
beat the surface of the sea, which is thought to serve as a kind of decoy to the 
creature ; and when within reach, the spear, with a line of walrus hide attached, is 
thrust into the object of pursuit, and subsequently it is dispatched by being pierced 
with knives and other sharp instruments. But the natives of the Pribyloff Islands, 
and also those of the peninsula of Alaska (who have become excellent marksmen), 
shoot them with heavy muskets. 
Great numbers of "Walruses are found about the waters of the Arctic uniting 
with Behring Straits, and in Behring Sea, and innumerable herds still resort in the 
summer months to different points on the southern or central coasts of Alaska, 
particularly at Amak Island and Point Moller, on the northern shore of the 
Alaskan peninsula. Within the last ten years many of these animals have been 
destroyed by the whalers, both in the Arctic and Behring Seas. The mode of 
capture was by shooting them when upon the ice with Spencer rifles, or, if in the 
water, by harpooning and lancing them. To the natives of the coasts where the 
Walrus frequents, the animal is of indispensable value. The flesh supplies them 
with food ; the ivory tusks are made into implements used in the chase, and for 
other domestic pm-poses, as well as affording a valuable article of barter ; and the 
skin furnishes the material for covering their summer habitations, planking for 
their baidarras, harness for their dog -teams, and lines for their fishing -gear. But 
the savage native and the civilized fisherman and sailor are not the only enemies 
of the Walrus. The polar bear seeks them in its prowlings, and when meeting 
with a herd, the huge beast selects and seizes one of the smallest individuals with 
his capacious jaws, and the resisting struggles of the poor victim to free itself are 
quickly suppressed by repeated blows with bruin's paws, which cause almost instant 
death. The murderous beast then quickly tears the skin from the body by means 
of his long, sharp claws, when the remains are devoured. That carnivorous animal 
of the cetacean order, known as the Orca, or Killer, also watches for the young 
cubs of the Walrus, and if there is floating ice at hand, the mother with her 
charge clambers upon it to avoid the pursuer ; if this fails, however, the cub will 
mount the mother's back as the only place of refuge. But the Killer is rarely 
baffled in obtaining the object it seeks by this mode of the mother's protection, 
for the pursuing animal dives deeply, and then comes head up under the old 
Walrus, with such force as to throw the cub from the dam's back into the water, 
