78 ADVENTURES IN THE. NORTHERN SEAS. 



where, I believe, they are made into what are known 

 in the hosiers 1 shops as "dog-skin" and "Dundee 

 kid 11 gloves. Their value in Hammerfest is from 

 one to two dollars a skin. 



The walrus has not nearly so much blubber, in 

 proportion to his size, as the seal; thus a seal of 

 600 lbs. will carry 200 or 250 lbs. of fat ; an ordi- 

 nary walrus may weigh 2000 lbs., but his fat will 

 not exceed that of the seal. A full-sized old bull 

 walrus must weigh at least 3000 lbs., and such a 

 walrus will produce, if very fat, 650 lbs. of blubber, 

 but seldom more than 500 lbs., which latter was, I 

 think, about the maximum quantity yielded by the 

 most obese of our victims. Neither does the fat of 

 the walrus afford so fine an oil as that of the seal ; 

 but it is usual to mix them indiscriminately to- 

 gether, and the compound is always exported into 

 Southern Europe under the name of seal oil. 



We begin to find some of these long, dreary, fog- 

 gy days intolerably irksome, as our cabin is singu- 

 larly ill adapted for passing much idle time in. It 

 is literally almost impossible either to sit, stand 

 up, or lie down in it. It is only five feet high, ex- 

 cept where a small dingy skylight three feet square 

 gives us the advantage of another foot. There is a 

 "bunk 1 '' on each side of about 5£ x 2£, and one can 

 hardly be said to be lying down in five and a half 

 feet length ; each bunk has a locker in front of it 

 nine inches broad ; and any one unfortunate enough 

 to have to try will find that any posture is prefer- 



