WHALING 281 



shore-ice. During the past voyage of the Neptune many walrus 

 were seen; the most northern locality was at the entrance to 

 Smith sound, where large numbers were congregated on pans of 

 floating ice, between Etah and Cape Sabine. Numbers were 

 seen along the coast of Ellesmere island and in the waters of 

 Lancaster sound. The whalers and natives report them as very 

 plentiful in Wellington channel. They are common along the 

 coast of Baffin island, a considerable number being killed an- 

 nually at the station at Cape Haven, and in Cumberland gulf. 

 They are very numerous in Fox channel and Frozen strait, 

 where they are captured while on the floating ice usually found 

 in these localities throughout the summer. When the ice leaves 

 Hudson bay and Hudson strait, the walrus resort to favourite 

 localities, usually small rocky islands, where they are frequently 

 found in large numbers. Such islands are located in King 

 sound, near Douglas harbour, on the south side of the strait ; at 

 the west end of Charles island, also in the strait; at Walrus 

 island in Fisher strait, and at several small islands of the 

 Belcher and other outer islands of the east coast of Hudson bay. 



When the St. Lawrence was discovered the walrus was found 

 as far south as the Magdalen islands, and, within a compara- 

 tively recent time, they were common on the Atlantic coast of 

 Labrador ; now they are only killed rarely at Cape Chidley, the 

 northern point of that coast. On Hudson bay they were 

 formerly found as far south as Paint islands on the east 

 side of James bay, but now they do not frequent that coast 

 south of latitude 60 N., and their southern limit is about lati- 

 tude 57 N., on the Belcher islands. There has been a rapid 

 diminution in the number of walrus in the northern part of the 

 bay during the past few years, since the Active has been 

 engaged in their capture, and it is only a question of a few 

 years, if the present methods of killing are continued, before 

 the walrus will become as rare as the Right whale in the waters 



