WALRUS, OR SEA-HORSE. 109 



Horses are adapted in very different degrees for 

 land and water. The latter unquestionably is 

 their more common, as well as more natural, ele- 

 ment : for it all their organs are beautifully adapted ; 

 and, when in the liquid wave, all their members have 

 free scope, and work to the admiration of those who 

 behold them. Whether descending into the depths 

 of the sea, or swimming along its surface, their 

 members are perfectly suited for their exigencies, 

 and hence we find Zorgdrager stating, " That it is as 

 difficult to follow the Morse with boats in rowing, 

 as it is to follow the Whale itself;" implying, we 

 need scarcely add, a great velocity in their course: 

 and again, when quiet, so much are they at their 

 ease that they sleep profoundly upon the surface, 

 and, according to Schreber, are carried along as if 

 they were dead. Upon the land, on the other hand, 

 they are in a strained and far less favourable condi- 

 tion ; while at the same time it must be remem- 

 bered, that, this sojourn is absolutely requisite, as 

 it is on land that they form their lair, like other 

 quadrupeds, and carry on the process of lactation. 

 Their swimming paws, so admirably adapted for the 

 water, are but ill suited for the land ; and, though 

 they make use of them for necessary transport, the 

 operation is both awkward and irksome ; " their 

 gait," says Martens, " is a kind of jerking ; they can 

 make considerable springs, and can advance pretty 

 rapidly, with the help of their teeth. When they 

 continue on land, they appear, however, and really, 

 o a great degree, are necessarily, sluggish brutes.'* 



