HABITS FOOD. 181 







mous, and that the difference between the sexes in size, color, 

 and shape is inconsiderable ; that the female brings forth her 

 young, a single calf, in June, usually on the ice-floes in the 

 Arctic Ocean, above Bering Straits ; that the calf closely resem- 

 bles the parent in general proportions anr. color, but that the 

 tusks which give it its most distinguishing expression are not 

 visible until the end of the second year of its life ; that the 

 walrus mother is strongly attached to her offspring, and nurses 

 it later in the season in the sea ; that the walrus sleeps pro- 

 foundly in the water, floating almost vertically, with barely more 

 than the nostrils above water, and can be easily approached, if 

 care be taken, to within easy spearing distance 5 that the bulls 

 do not fight as savagely as the fur-seal or sea-lion, the blunted 

 tusks of the combatants seldom penetrate the thick hide ;* that 

 they can remain under water nearly an hour, or twice as long as 

 the seals, and that they sink like so many stones immediately 

 after being shot." 



Mr. Elliott adds : " As the females never come down to the 

 Prybilov Islands, 1 have never had an opportunity of observing 

 them. . . . The reason why this band of males, many of 

 them old ones, should be .here by themselves all through the 

 year is not plain to me ; the natives assure me that the females, 

 or their young, never have been seen around the shores of these 

 islands. Over in Bristol Bay great numbers of walrus con- 

 gregate on the sandy bars and flats, where they are hunted 

 to a considerable extent for their ivory." On Walrus Island, 

 however, they are said to be comparatively unmolested, the 

 natives here " not making any use of their flesh, fat, or hides." 

 They are hence shot here only by the natives of Saint Paul's 

 Island, who visit Walrus Island for the purpose of getting eggs, 

 in June and July, when they often shoot the Walruses wan- 

 tonly .t Their comparative immunity here from persecution is 

 hence apparently the reason why they select this island as one 

 of their favorite reposing grounds. 



Their food is described by Mr. Elliott as consisting exclu- 

 sively of shell-fish (principally clams), " and the bulbous roots of 

 certain marine grasses and plants, which grow in great abun- 

 dance in the broad, shallow lagoons and bays of the mainland 



* That their blows are "at times not lacking in force is sufficiently proven 

 by the too well-known fact of their striking them through the plauking of 

 a, ship's boat. 



t Condition of Affairs in Alaska, pp. 160-164. 



