WALRUS, OR SEA-HORSE. Ill 



one use of their tusks is to disengage their food 

 from the spots where it grows. Buffon, again, says 

 that they live on prey as the Seal does, and particular- 

 ly on herring and small fishes ; in other words, that 

 they are carnivorous, Mr Scoresby mentions that in 

 their stomachs he had met with shrimps, a kind of 

 craw fish, and the remains of young Seals; Mr 

 Fisher, again, states that he found "long branches 

 of sea-weed, fucus digitatus ; v * so that, from these 

 facts, as well as from some pointed observations of 

 Martens, we have little doubt they are omnivorous, 

 and make use both of animal and vegetable food. 



Proceeding from their physical to their mental 

 constitution, we may observe that they are mono- 

 gamous, and thereby enjoy a peace and quiet in ordi- 

 nary life which presents a striking contrast to what 

 is seen in the case of very many of the Seals. They 

 also appear to be in a remarkable degree social. 

 We hear little or nothing of them in solitude, or in 

 single pairs, but united together in dozens, more fre- 

 quently in hundreds, and sometimes even in thousands. 

 This crowding together on land, of so many awk- 

 ward and noisy creatures, frequently gives rise to 

 singular enough spectacles. u The moment the first 

 gets ashore, so as to lie dry, it will not stir till ano- 

 -her comes and forces it forward, by beating it with 

 ts great teeth ; this one is served in the same man- 

 ier by the next, and so on in succession till the 

 whole are landed, tumbling over one another, and 



* Apun Bell, Brit, Quadr. 



