140 HUNTERS AND HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC 



forgetful of our precarious situation, and thinking 

 only of our success. By extreme good fortune 

 neither of my bullets had touched the tusks, 

 which were quite intact. I have never since 

 fired full face at a walrus unless circumstances 

 compelled me to. 



Lamont tells us that the most vulnerable 

 part of a walrus is the third fold of the neck. 

 A bullet entering there smashes the base of the 

 skull. The anterior part, which seems to belong 

 to the head, is in reality flesh which is covered 

 by hard skin. 



Even with the most up-to-date rifle, it is 

 almost impossible to kill a walrus with a single 

 shot when face to face. The shock of a bullet 

 striking the large maxillary bones is sufficient 

 to arrest it, but to kill, the bullet must enter 

 the mouth, penetrate the palate, and so reach 

 the brain. 



During our cruise in the Kara Sea we did 

 not sight a single walrus or, as far as that goes, 

 any living thing. But during my voyage of 

 1909 I more than once encountered walruses 

 on the Greenland ice-field, as well as in the 

 Hamilton Canal and at Franz Joseph Land. 

 On two occasions, at least, the sport was 

 exciting 



We had left the Clipper Roads on July 22, 



