THE WALRUS 131 



and the steel is that, should the harpoon fall 

 short of the quarry and into the sea, it will float. 



The practice of firing harpoons at the walrus 

 instead of flinging them by hand is in these 

 days widely adopted. A dangerously near 

 approach is rendered unnecessary, and the 

 possibilities of alarming the animal are reduced 

 to a minimum. Again, instead of killing the 

 animal with a lance, there are many who 

 prefer to shoot it as it swims, dragging the 

 boat after it. 



A single shot suffices to kill the walrus 

 provided it finds the one vulnerable spot, that 

 is, just where the head joins the body. It is, 

 on the other hand, almost impossible to shoot 

 these animals when they present their face or 

 sides, their maxillaries being so thick as to be 

 almost impenetrable. 



In the middle of the last century walruses 

 were still very numerous towards the east of 

 Spitzbergen. One reads in ' Lamont ' the account 

 of a slaughter which took place in 1850 at 

 Thousand Islands. As far as one can gather, 

 it was no more than a disgusting butchery, 

 because it occurred towards the end of the 

 season, when the ice was fast closing. The 

 hunters were not even able to take with them 

 the teeth of the eight hundred animals they 



K 2 



