AFTER THE SEAL 



the flesh is boiled down for oil, and the tusks come away 

 uninjured when the head is immersed in boiling water. 



On land the animal is far more awkward in its move- 

 ments than the seal, though just as active in the water. It 

 can remain a long while below the surface, having, like all 

 the other pinnipeds, special reservoirs into which the over- 

 strained veins can discharge the blood which would other- 

 wise suffocate them when breathing was suspended for any 

 length of time. A fisherman can distinguish a walrus 

 from a seal at a great distance by its manner of diving ; 

 whereas a seal sinks as naturally as a whale, a walrus 

 heaves up its back, rolls forward, and then disappears. 



The walrus is almost a vegetarian ; its throat is so 

 small that it could not even swallow a herring, and it lives 

 on seaweed, which it ekes out with molluscs scraped from 

 the rocks or burrowed out of the sand with its tusks. It 

 is of milder disposition than the seal, though a terrible 

 enough opponent when forced to fight for its life. Its 

 great enemy is the Polar bear, and in the fights between 

 the two animals the bear does not always win ; more often 

 than not a bear that has been indiscreet enough to pick a 

 quarrel with a walrus is soon glad to retire, gored and 

 torn and bleeding. To guard against a surprise visit 

 from its foe, the intelligent sea-horse places sentinels 

 which give the alarm by loud signal roars, at the first 

 sound of which the walruses all scuttle off to the water. 

 While on the land or on the ice they are generally careful 

 never to rest far from the water-line. 



As a profitable occupation, walrus-catching is not what 

 it used to be; two hundred years ago a few English 



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