ASPECT OF THE FIELD OF BATTLE. 177 



ing the island surrounded by many miles of heavy 

 and impenetrable drift-ice, which baffled all their 

 attempts to get at their walruses. 



In their hurry they had not even extracted all 

 the tusks, which thenceforth became any body's 

 property; and Daniel Danielsen told me he hap- 

 pened to be one of the first to revisit the island the 

 ensuing season, and that he cut out about a hund- 

 red pairs of tusks. The skins and blubber, of 

 course, were quite useless by that time, and thus 

 six or seven hundred walruses were destroyed with- 

 out benefit to any body. 



When I visited this island six years afterward, 

 there still remained abundant testimony to cor- 

 roborate the entire truth of the story. The smell 

 of the island was perceptible at several miles' dis- 

 tance, and on landing we found the carcasses lying 

 as I have described them, and in one place two and 

 three deep. The skin and flesh of many remained 

 tolerably entire, notwithstanding the ravages of 

 bears, foxes, and gulls. So many walruses have 

 been killed on this island at different times, that 

 a ship might easily load with bones there, and it 

 grieved me, as an agriculturist, to see the materi- 

 als of so much excellent bone-dust lying unappro- 

 priated. 



I believe the walruses have since discontinued 

 their visits to the island — probably on account of 

 the overpowering smell of the remains of their 

 slaughtered kindred. 



M 



