190 ENCOUNTERS WITH THE WALRUS. 



bare pointing of one, would send them down in an instants 

 We never found tlie whole herd asleep, one being always on 

 the watch. This, on the approach of a boat, would rouse 

 the next, and the alarm being gradually communicated, the 

 whole herd would speedily awake." 



The walrus is hunted chiefly for its oil and tusks ; the na- 

 tives of the northern shores esteem its flesh highly, and it is 

 greedily eaten along with the lard and even the skin. It has 

 been calculated that about a thousand walruses were cap- 

 tured yearly in the seas about Spitzbergen. 



Though generally of a peaceful and harmless nature, yet 

 when attacked by foes, and especially by man, these huge 

 animals will defend and support each other with remarkable 

 courage and fidelity, fearlessly proceeding to the rescue of 

 an unfortunate associate, and striving even to death for its 

 deliverance. Martens relates having killed some sea-horses 

 on the ice ; ** the rest came all about our boat, and beat 

 holes through the sides of it so that we took in abundance 

 of water, and were at length forced to row away because of 

 their great numbers, for they gathered themselves more and 

 more together, and pursued us, as long as we could perceive 

 them, very furiously." 



A similar incident is given, where a boat's crew pro- 

 ceeded to attack two hundred of these animals, but they 

 made almost desperate resistance ; some of them with their 

 cubs on their backs; and one of them tore open the planks 

 of the boat in two or three places. 



Captain Phipps relates that two officers engaged in an 

 encounter with a walrus, who, on being wounded, plunged 

 into the water, and obtained a reinforcement of its fellows,, 

 who made a desperate attack on the boat, wresting an oar 

 from one of the men, and had nearly upset her, when another 

 boat came to her assistance. 



The affection of the mother for its young is remarkable* 

 Captain Cook, in his third voyage, says: 



