6 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



but such cases are, of course, very rare. The comparatively 

 small size of the tusks makes the ivory useless for the manu- 

 facture of billiard balls and other things of considerable size, 

 and it does not, therefore, command so high a price as ele- 

 phant ivory, but it is largely used in the manufacture of small 

 articles. 



A walrus killed in the water immediately sinks ; even if 

 mortally wounded, it will in nine cases out of ten escape, and 

 sink to the bottom. When on the ice, walrus always lie close 

 to the water, and it is therefore necessary to kill them instantly, 

 or they will reach the water and be lost before the boat can 

 arrive within harpooning distance. This can only be done by 

 penetrating the brain, which is no easy matter. The brain 

 lies in what appears to be the neck ; that which one would 

 naturally suppose to be the head being nothing but the heavy 

 jaw bones, and mass of bone in which the tusks are set. In 

 reference to this point, I cannot do better than quote Mr. 

 Lamont, who on this and everything else connected with walrus 

 hunting is a most accurate authority. It is with the kind per- 

 mission of his publishers, Messrs. Chatto and Windus, that I 

 reproduce his plate 'How to shoot a Walrus.' In his 'Yacht- 

 ing in the Arctic Seas,' page 69, he says : — 



No one who has not tried it will readily believe how extremely 

 difficult it is to shoot an old bull walrus clean dead. The front or 

 sides of his head may be knocked all to pieces with bullets, and 

 the animal yet have sufficient strength and sense left to enable him 

 to swim and dive out of reach. If he is lying on his side, with his 

 back turned to his assailant (as in the upper figure), it is easy 

 enough, as the brain is then quite exposed, and the crown of the 

 head is easily penetrated ; but one rarely gets the walrus in that 

 position, and when it so happens it is generally better policy to 

 harpoon him without shooting. By firing at an old bull directly 

 facing you, it is almost impossible to kill him, but if half front to 

 you, a shot just above the eye may prove fatal. If sideways, he 

 can only be killed by aiming about six inches behind the eye, and 

 about one-fourth of the apparent depth of his head from the top ; 

 but the eye, of course, cannot be seen unless the animal is very 



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