64 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS 



regions, it may possibly have been first discovered 

 by Steller, the original describer of the sea-cow and 

 the Arctic fox ; but this seems doubtful, and perhaps 

 the credit should be assigned to Captain Cook, who 

 found this walrus swarming in Bristol Bay. 1 Huddled 

 together on the ice like pigs in a sty, the walruses 

 had a rough and ready method of mounting sentry. 

 Each individual before dropping off to sleep would 

 prod his neighbour with his tusks; the second animal 

 waking up would grunt sleepily, and in his turn give 

 a dig to a third one before composing himself anew 

 to slumber. This wireless telegraphy was gradually 

 communicated through the whole herd, like buckets 

 passed at a fire. The majority might be fast asleep, 

 heads happily pillowed on one another, yet in the 

 huge herd which lay like a mass of dirty snow on the 

 icefield there would always be one or two animals 

 awake. When alarmed the walrus set up a loud 

 bellowing ; the great armed heads swung round and 

 the close-packed ranks tumbled over each other in 

 haste to reach the sea. The braying of a herd of 

 walrus is said to be distinctly audible at a distance of 

 several miles. 



Curiosity is a strong point in the character of both 

 the Pacific and the Atlantic walruses ; the earlier 

 voyagers found them following close to the boat, 



1 . The name of the first European to meet with Odobcenus obesus seems 

 to be unknown. Thus in 1786 G. Pribylov, a mate in the service of a 

 swan -hunting company, discovered one of its haunts in the islands which 

 bear his name ; but even he found signs pipe, brass knife-handle, and 

 traces of fire that indicated that he was not the first to land there. 



