184 THE WALRUSES DISAPPEAR. 



CHAP. XII. 



Walruses leave the Banks, and go upon Land. Vast 

 Herds ashore. Frightful Massacre. Just Eetribution. 

 Cargo of Bones. Beautiful Day and sudden Change. 

 Early northern Voyagers. Scoresby s Opinion. Open 

 Polar Basin a mere Chimera. Dr. Kane. North Pole. 

 -Scheme for reaching the Pole. Parry s Sledge Expedi 

 tion ; and why it failed. - Alexei Markhoff s Expedition ; 

 and his difficult Eeturn. 



THE 14th was Sunday, and continued foggy, 

 but looked a little more promising ; and accord 

 ingly on the 15th it had cleared away, and we 

 had a fine day with north-westerly wind. &quot;We 

 were both out in the boats all day, and brought 

 in one walrus and seventeen seals. 



During the fog of last week we had been 

 apprehensive that there were few or no walruses 

 remaining in this neighbourhood, as we had 

 heard no bellowing; and if there had been any 

 walruses around we could not have failed to 

 hear them, as the weather was mild, and there 

 was plenty of good ice. This day s proceedings 

 completely proved that our apprehensions were 

 well-founded, for, except the one we killed (and 



