PRODUCTS. 



185 



less interested iu Walrus-huntiiig-. According to a quotation 

 given by Captain Scammon from The Friend* of Marcli 1, 1872, 

 "the whalers first began to turn their attention, to Walrus- 

 catching about the year 1868, and the work has contiuued up 

 to the present time [1874]. Usually, during the first part of 

 every season, there has been but little ojiportuuitj" to capture 

 whales, they being within the limits of the icy barrier. Hence, 

 much of the whalers' time during the months of July and Au- 

 gust has been devoted to capturing the Walrus ; and it is esti- 

 mated that at least 60,000 of these animals have been destroyed 

 by the whale- fishers in the Arctic Ocean and Behring Sea dur- 

 ing the last five years, which j)roduced about 50,000 barrels of 

 oil, with a proportionate amount of ivory." t This would make 

 an average annual destruction of 12,000, in addition to the large 

 number habitually destroyed by the natives. 



In the "Annual Eeview" of the products of the Korth Pacific 

 Whaling Fleet t for 1877, it is stated that the whalers arriving 

 at the port of San Francisco during 1877 reported 74,753 pounds 

 of Walrus teeth and 2,178 barrels of Walrus oil. The amount 

 of Walrus ivory "received in the customs district of San Fran- 

 cisco " for 1876 is given as 33,034 x^ounds. The same authority 

 ^ives the following statistics for x^revious years, beginning with 

 1873 : 



Total for the last five years, 153,075 pounds, with an estimated 

 value of about $55,000. This amount imjihes.an annual destruc- 

 tion of at least ten to twelve thousand Walruses. It thus ap- 

 pears that for the last ten years the number of Walruses taken 



* A newspaper xiublishecl in Honolulu. 



t Marine Mammalia, j). 181. 



X ''Commercial Herald and Market Review," vol. xii, No. 531, San Fran- 

 cisco, Cal., Jan. 17, 1878. 



There is an unexplained discrejiancy here, for another statement in the 

 same connection gives the quantity of "Walrus teeth " for 1876 as 33,934 

 pounds. 



