210 KAMSCHATKA. [chap. 



composed were less pleasing to a sailor's than an artist's eye ; and 

 it was with a certain relief that, on the return of the lifeboat we 

 had sent to coast the shores of the bay, we learnt that no trace of 

 walrus was to be seen. With the prospect of bad holding-gi'ound 

 and no shelter to speak of, we resolved on trying farther to the 

 north, and therefore, without anchoring, made at once for Cape 

 Klin, our original destination. 



We kept within a mile or two of the land, expecting to arrive 

 in an hour or less, for the distance between Capes Sliipmisky and 

 Klin was barely twelve miles by the chart. We found, however, 

 that the distances were as little to be relied on as the outline of the 

 coast, and we had logged thirty-six miles before stopping the 

 engines abreast of the cape. We rowed along the beach in vain in 

 search of the game. Not a walrus was to be seen, but on nearing a 

 little group of rocks we noticed a large mass lying upon the beach, 

 and landed to find ourselves in the midst of a scene of slaughter 

 which sufficiently accounted for the absence of our quarry. The 

 crew of the schooner had evidently had good sport, for the shore 

 was dotted here and there with the bodies of the slain, which were 

 blown out to a gigantic size by decomposition. That there were 

 still plenty of walrus in the neighbourhood was evident, for on our 

 return to the ship the animals played in numbers around the boat ; 

 but, unlike the fur seal, they will not " haul up " on the shores 

 where others of their species have been killed, and we had therefore 

 to give up all hope of obtaining them at Cape Klin. The walrus 

 restricts itself more or less to certain favourite spots for landing, 

 and a random search for them along the coast would have been 

 attended with but little success. It is nearly impossible to kill 

 them in the water except by harpooning, for the only fatal shot — 

 a small spot at the nape of the neck — is very rarely obtainable, 

 and the animal, if struck there, usually sinks at once. 



Our search having thus proved fruitless, there was nothing left 

 for us but to return to the neighbourhood of Cape Shipunsky, in 

 the hope of obtaining some of the bighorn or mountain -sheep 



