80 VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN, 



valuable than those of the elephant, as being more 

 compact and hard, and consequently taking a finer 

 polish : the skin, which is nearly an inch thick, is 

 used to cover the masts or yards of ships, where 

 they cross each other, to prevent their being injur- 

 ed by the friction. It was formerly cut into ropes ; 

 and Buffon mentions its being used at Paris in the 

 springs of carriages. 



The walrus becomes very furious when attack- 

 ed, and the whole herd join to revenge any injury 

 an individual may have received. If wounded in 

 the water, they will sometimes surround the boat, 

 and attempt to sink her, by striking their tusks 

 against her sides and bottom. Their combats 

 with the bear, their most dangerous enemy among 

 the lower animals, have been already described.* 



The water and air round Spitzbergen abound 

 more with inhabitants than the land ; the fish are 

 perhaps not more numerous than the birds, which 

 are there seen in thousands : of these I shall only 

 describe a few of the most curious species. 



The Procellaria glacialis or Mallemukke of the 

 Dutch, is found in very great abundance in the 



* This account is comformable to that given by the greatest 

 number of writers, but Fabricius seems to be of a different opi. 

 nion as to the ferocity of the walrus. " Improviso vulneratus itu 

 feslat ; venators autcm prccviso fugit" Faun. Groenl. p. 5. 



