254 ADVENTURES IN THE NORTHERN SEAS. 



pressure of the water at any thing like the depth to 

 which the great seal can descend : the walrus goes 

 ashore on the beach or rocks, and the Spitzbergen 

 seal, although he basks on ice — both fixed and float- 

 ing — is never known to go on land or even to lie 

 on a half-tide rock; the walrus is gregarious and 

 the great seal solitary, even two seldom being found 

 together ; the young walrus lives with his dam for 

 two seasons,* while the young seals are believed to 

 leave the protection of the old ones at a few days 

 old, and to shift for themselves like young fishes. 

 I believe a young seal is never found along with 

 its dam. The food of the walrus is chiefly obtain- 

 ed by plowing the submarine banks with his tusks, 

 and the seal catches his prey swimming in the 

 water. 



This evidence would seem to argue that the seal 

 is a farther intermediate link between the walrus 

 and the whale, but I can not presume to hazard 

 any opinion on that point ; he may have diverged 

 from the walrus, or he may have sprung more di- 

 rectly from some other race of animals living or 

 extinct, without the intervention of the walrus. 



But, in whatsoever way the numerous tribes of 

 seals may have originated, I think that we have 

 strong evidence before us, in the appearance and 

 habits of the great seal and the walrus, to induce 

 us to entertain the belief that one or other of them, 



* We always found one-year-old calves with their mothers, 

 i. e. calves of the preceding season. 



