THE WALRUS. 181 
when it is instantly seized and swallowed by its adversary. Instances have been 
known, however, where the Orca has paid dearly for its murderous temerity, as the 
enraged Walrus, when bereft of her young, will sometimes strike her tusks into 
her foe with such effect as to cause a mortal wound or instant death. 
Among the numerous enemies of the Walrus, it is to be regretted that the 
whalers are included, they having been driven to the necessity of pursuing them on 
account of the scarcity of Cetaceans. Already the animals have suffered so great a 
slaughter at their hands that their numbers have been materially diminished, and 
they have become wild and shy, making it difficult for the Esquimaux to success- 
fully hunt them, in order to obtain a necessary supply of food. It is stated that 
there has been much suffering among those harmless people of the far north, on 
account of this source for supplying themselves with an indispensable article of 
sustenance being to an alarming extent cut off. 
According to The Friend, published at Honolulu, March 1st, 1872, the whalers 
first began to turn their attention to Walrus -catching about the year 1868, and the 
work has continued up to the present time. Usually, during the first part of every 
season there has been but little opportunity to capture whales, they being within 
the limits of the icy barrier. Hence, much of the whalers' time during the months 
of July and August has been devoted to capturing the Walrus ; and it is estimated 
that at least sixty thousand of these animals have been destroyed by the whale- 
fishers in the Arctic Ocean and Behring Sea during the last five years, which pro- 
duced about fifty thousand barrels of oil, with a proportionate amount of ivory. 
