THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 669 



As they sink once more he again changes his place. And so the 

 conflict goes on between address and force, till the victim, half 

 exhausted, receives a second wound, and is played like a trout by 

 the angler's reel. 



The instinct of attack which characterizes the walrus is inter- 

 esting to the naturalist, as it is characteristic also of the land 

 animals, the pachyderms, with which he is classed. When wounded 

 he rises high out of the water, plunges heavily against the ice, 

 and strives to raise himself with his fore-flippers upon its surface. 

 As it breaks under his weight, his countenance assumes a still 

 more vindictive expression, his bark changes to a roar, and the 

 foam pours out from his jaws till it froths his beard. 



Even when not excited, he manages his tusks bravely. They 

 are so strong that he uses them to grapple the rocks with, and 

 climbs steeps of ice and land which would be inaccessible to him 

 without their aid. He ascends in this way rocky islands that are 

 sixty and a hundred feet above the level of the sea. 



The battle between the walrus and Dr. Kane, Morton and 

 Myouk, lasted for over four hours, during which the desperate 

 animal rushed continually at them, tearing off great tables of ice 

 with' his tusks and showing no fear whatever. He received 

 upward of seventy lance wounds before giving up the contest, 

 and even then remained hooked to the ice with his tusks, van- 

 quished only by death. 



To land this huge animal required no little skill, for its weight 

 was fully two thousand pounds, perhaps more. Incisions were 

 made on both sides of the neck, through which a line of sealskin 

 was passed, and a pulley made in the ice, by which it was dragged 

 out, several Esquimaux assisting. 



HALL'S BATTLE WITH A WALRUS. 



DURING the winter of 1864, Capt. Hall participated, with several 

 Esquimaux, in an exciting walrus hunt ; indeed, the pursuit of this 

 animal is always exciting, for it is in the water what the tiger, or 

 elephant, is on land, a beast of extraordinary viciousness and 

 power, capable of destroying even small ships, should its energies 

 be so directed. Several dogs were taken with the party to assist 



