WALRUS, OR SEA-HORSE. 113 



illustrate these peculiarities in the character and 

 habits of the animal. 



Their tendency to herd together is well displayed 

 in the account given by Lord Shuldham. " The 

 Walrus," he remarks, " is a native of the Magdalene 

 Islands, (Gulf of St Lawrence.) They resort 

 thither early in spring, and the place seems peculi- 

 arly adapted to their nature, abounding with shell- 

 fish (clams) of a very large size. Here for a time 

 they are suffered unmolested to come on shore, and 

 amuse themselves, till they acquire boldness ; for, at 

 their first landing, they are so exceedingly timid as 

 to make it impossible for any person to approach 

 them. In a few weeks they assemble in great mul- 

 titudes, which, previous to their being disturbed, 

 used to amount to 7000 or 8000." * The same fact, 

 along with others, is illustrated by Captain Cook, 

 who was one of the first circumnavigators who gave 

 any thing like a distinct account of this creature. 

 He encountered them in the North Pacific Ocean, 

 wliere his further progress was arrested by the im- 

 penetrable barrier of ice. " At one o'clock," we 

 read, " we got entangled with the edge of the ice, on 

 which lay an innumerable number of Sea-Horses. 

 They were lying in herds of many hundreds, hud- 

 dled one over the other like swine, and were roaring 

 and braying very loud, so that in the night, or in 

 foggy weather, they gave us notice of the vicinity 

 of the ice before we could see it. They were sel- 



* Apud Pennant, in Arctic Regions, 149. 



