20 THE MINDS AND MANNERS 



bitten off in the encounter. In confinement, the guanaco 

 charges one with his chest, or rears up on his hind legs to strike 

 one with his fore-feet, besides biting and spitting up the con- 

 tents of the stomach." — Richard Crawshay in "The Birds of 

 Terra del Fuego." 



Mental Traits and Temper of the Atlantic Walrus 



Mr. Langdon Gibson, of Schenectady, kindly wrote out for 

 me the following highly interesting observations on a remark- 

 able arctic animal with which we are but slightly acquainted: 



"In the summer of 1891, as a member of the first Peary Expe- 

 dition I had an opportunity of observing some of the traits of the 

 Atlantic walrus. I found him to be a real animal, of huge size, with 

 an extremely disagreeable temper and most belligerently inclined. 

 We hunted them in open whale-boats under the shadows of Green- 

 land's mountain-bound coast, in the Whale Sound region, Lat. 77 

 degrees North. 



"We hunted among animals never before molested, except by 

 the Eskimo who (so far as I was able to ascertain) hunt them only 

 during the winter season on the sea ice. We found animals whose 

 courage and belief in themselves and their prowess had hitherto 

 been unshaken by contact with the white man and his ingenious 

 devices of slaughter. 



"The walrus has a steady nerve and a thoroughly convincing 

 roar. They have fought their kind and the elements for centuries 

 and centuries, and know no fear. This, then, was the animal we 

 sought in order to secure food for our dog teams. I can conceive of 

 no form of big game hunting so conducive to great mental excite- 

 ment and physical activity as walrus hunting from an open whale- 

 boat. At the completion of such a hunt I have seen Eskimo so 

 excited and worked up that they were taken violently sick with 

 vomiting and headache. 



"The walrus is a gregarious animal, confederating in herds num- 

 bering from ten to fifty, and in some instances no doubt larger 

 numbers may be found together. On calm days they rest in un- 

 molested peace on pans of broken ice which drift up and down the 

 waters of Whale Sound. It is unfortunate that no soundings were 

 taken in the region where the walrus were found, as a knowledge of 

 the depth of water would have furnished some information as to the 

 distances to which the animal will dive in search of food. 



"The stomachs of all half- and full-grown walrus taken in Whale 

 Sound were without exception well filled with freshly opened clams, 



