140 



The Living Animals of the World 



By permission of the Hon. Waller Rotluschild] \_Tring. 



MALE WALRUS. 



The "tusks" of the walrus are put to many practical uses during life, 

 and after death are much valued for the ivory. 



THE WALRUS. 



The distinguishing features of the walrus 

 have been mentioned in the introductory 

 remarks to this chapter. It should be added 

 that it has an external ear-passage, though 

 no external ears, and very thick and bristly 

 whiskers. It is practically confined to the 

 Arctic Circle, though once its range extended 

 to the British coasts (where its bones are 

 found in the Suffolk Crag) and to Virginia. 

 The skull of one was found in the peat at 

 Ely evidence that it once ascended rivers. 



The walrus stands alone ; it is a real 

 monster of the deep. Strange and awful 

 stories were told of it by some of the early 

 voyagers to the Arctic Seas ; but Captain Cook 



gave a very different account of his impressions of the walruses which he saw on the north coast 

 of America : " They lie in herds of many hundreds on the ice, huddling over one another 

 like swine. (They lie just like a lot of pigs in a yard.) They roar and bray so very loud, 

 that in the night, or in foggy weather, they gave us notice of the vicinity of the ice 

 before we could see it. We never found the whole herd asleep, some being always on the 

 watch. These, on the approach of the boat, would awaken those next to them ; and the 

 alarm being thus gradually communicated, the whole herd would awake presently. But they 

 were seldom in a hurry to get away, till after they had been once fired at; they then would 

 tumble over one another into the sea in the utmost confusion. They did not appear to us 

 to be that dangerous animal which authors have described, not even when attacked. Vast 

 numbers of them would follow us, and come close up to the boats ; but the flash of the 

 musket in the pan, or the bare pointing of it, would send them down in an instant. The 

 female will defend her young to the last, and at the expense of her own life, whether in 

 the water or upon the ice ; nor will the young one quit the dam, though she be dead ; so that 

 if one be killed the other is certain prey." The long pendent tusks, bristly whiskers, small 

 bloodshot eyes, and great size lent colour to the terrifying tales of the walrus. But more 

 ancient voyagers than Captain Cook told the truth that the " morses," as they called them, 

 were harmless creatures, which often followed the ships from sheer curiosity. The}- sleep on 

 the ice like elephantine pigs, and dive and rout on the sea-bottom for clams, cuttle-fish, 

 and seaweeds. Probably the long tusks are used to rake up mussels and clams ; they also help 

 the walrus to climb on to the ice. A young walrus was kept for some time by the members 

 of the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition, and was found to be an amusing pet. One kept on 

 board a Dundee whaler used to sleep with an Eskimo dog, and got into the same kennel 

 with it. It ate blubber and salt pork, but liked the sailors' pea-soup better than anything 

 else ; it was most sociable, and could not bear to be alone would tumble down the hatchway 

 to seek the society of its beloved sailors, and scramble into the cabin if the door were open. 

 When it fell ill and before it died, it seemed most grateful for any attention shown to it. The 

 parent walrus shows the greatest courage in trying to defend the young one. Walruses are 

 now scarce ; but as the ivory is the only part of them of much present value, there is a chance 

 that they may not be killed off entirely. 



THE TRUE SEALS. 



The TRUE SEALS, with their greatly modified forms, heads set almost on to their shoulders, 

 with no neck visible, have well-developed claws on all the toes, and in the typical species have 

 double-rooted and small cheek-teeth. The number of the incisors is variable. The GREY SEAL 



