THE WALRUS 203 



regulations be constantly broken by lawless men who risk 

 the remote chances of detection, the seal harvest in any 

 year is not equal to what it was when indiscriminate 

 slaughter was general ; but moderate seasons in perpetuity 

 will stand for wealth incalculable, instead of a few flush 

 seasons that would have spelt extinction for one of the 

 most wonderful, amiable, and intelligent of God's creatures, 

 whether on land or in the sea. 



WALRUS (Trichechus rosmdrus). 

 Coloured Plate XII. Fig. 5. 



Standing alone, a real monster of the deep, the Walrus, 

 Morse, or Sea Horse is the most extraordinary member of 

 a remarkable family. The word ' Walrus' is of Scandinavian 

 origin, and literally signifies 'Whale Horse' ; though why, in 

 naming one of the most ungainly of the brute creation, it 

 was thought necessary to libel one of the most beautiful of 

 our animals, the horse, is difficult to comprehend. 



' None can compete with the Walrus for clumsiness. He 

 has a gigantic body in the fullest grown adult about a ton 

 in weight and about as unsymmetrical as a leathern bag of 

 oil. It is covered with a tough, gnarled hide, scantily 

 clothed with coarse brown hair, very patchy in fact, not at 

 all unlike one of those old hair-trunks we used to see occa- 

 sionally. The fore flippers are very short, and the hand-like 

 members are planted flat at almost right angles to the body, 

 while the hind flippers have no legs to them, being appar- 

 ently just an ornamental appendage to the body in lieu of a 

 tail. Consequently, he who can watch the progress of a 

 Walrus over land or ice and not laugh must be quite devoid 

 of humour, for it is certainly one of the most droll-looking 

 methods of progression conceivable.' 



The Walrus is practically restricted to the Arctic Circle, 

 though two or three centuries ago it abounded off Norway, 

 and one was seen as far South as the Orkney Islands in 1857. 



The outstanding singularity of the immense animal, which 

 often measures eighteen or twenty feet in length and ten or 

 twelve in circumference round the chest, consists in the con- 



