fairly common and may be encountered in considerable con- 

 gregations is the mighty Walrus. This, although classed with the 

 seals generally (as the Pinnipedia, or "fin-footed ones"), is really 

 a distinct and altogether extraordinary beast. It has the rather 

 delightful scientific name of Odobaenus rosmarus, the first word 

 of which means "those that walk with their teeth." This is to 

 our eyes a quite grotesque creature, especially if it be a male 

 and of respectable age. As almost everybody knows, these ani- 

 mals develop the two upper canine teeth into enormous ivory 

 tusks that protrude downward over the lower lip and may be 

 more than two feet in length. Moreover, it is true that the ani- 

 mals employ these tusks to hook their vast bulk onto ice floes or 

 even up seaweed-covered rocks. However, the sheer bulk of these 

 animals is even more impressive, for large males may be more 

 than twelve feet long and weigh over a ton and three-quarters. 

 They are covered with a warty skin and have bulbous upper lips 

 and grotesque "Old Bill" moustaches. They feed for the most 

 part on shellfish, sea urchins, and other hard-shelled denizens of 

 the sea bottoms for which they dive, and they do not concern 

 themselves much with fish or other more agile food. They are 

 rather rambunctious and aggressive beasts, and they can be 

 extremely dangerous both on land and in the water. The pups, 

 of which there are usually twins each year, are extremely amiable 

 little hundred-pounders that seem to have much intelligence, are 

 unabashed, and become very friendly. But they must be fed 

 clams or they pine away. 



The Sea Otter has a recent history somewhat similar to that 







A rare photograph of a rare event— over 3000 walruses as- 

 se))iblcd on the Walrus Islands in the Bering Sea. 

 Facing page: Male walruses may weigh over a ton and have 

 tusks almost two feet long, which they may use for hooking 

 themselves onto the ice. They dive to the bottom of the sea 

 to get their shellfish food. 



Overleaf: Barren Ground Caribou, a form of reindeer, migrat- 

 ing. These vast herds move annually north to south and back 

 again between the taiga forest edge and the tundralands. 



of the Fur Seal in that, having a most beautiful and valuable 

 pelt, it was mercilessly persecuted by white men from the mo- 

 ment they discovered its existence among the vast kelp beds of 

 the North Pacific coasts. Being a lone or a family animal and 

 spending most of its time on the high seas, floating apparently 

 uninterestedly on its back, munching on sea urchins and so forth, 

 which it holds with its forepaws on its chest like an over- 

 indulgent Roman senator at a banquet, it was rapidly reduced to 

 near extinction. However, once again good conservation prac- 

 tices came to the rescue just in time, and it is now so busily on 

 the increase that in recent years it has again been reported as 

 far south as California. 



The Sea Otter is a member of the weasel family and thus is 

 related to the ordinary otters that inhabit lakes and rivers and 

 is a sort of end product of the weasels, in many respects halfway 

 to a seal, with much reduced tail and stubby little limbs more or 

 less inside its loose, flabby jacket. It uses its hind pair of legs to 

 form a sort of horizontal whale-like rudder, as the seals do. All 

 its fingers and toes are completely webbed, and its head is flat- 

 tened almost like that of a shark. It is reputed to be able to dive 

 to a depth of over three hundred feet to obtain food. To watch 

 one eating off its chest as it lies on its back on the surface, 

 oblivious of surf and spray, is one of the most amusing experi- 

 ences provided by nature that I know of. Sea otters have a habit 

 of dropping choice bits "overboard" and, just as you think they 

 have irretrievably lost them, they roll over quite casually, duck 

 under, and retrieve them. They may play with a sea urchin or 

 a fish like this for hours. 



SNOW-CLAD FIRES 



On the Alaska Peninsula (see map) there is a string of fabulous 

 volcanic peaks. These range today from non-functioning or 

 allegedly "dead" cones, a few of monumental proportions, to 

 some extremely active volcanos which have the fascinating habit 

 of "puffing" like a chain of old-time coal-burning steam engines. 

 No two seem ever to puff in unison. The real glory of these 

 volcanos is that most of them are either usually or perpetually 

 snow-covered. There is a certain ephemeral beauty about snow- 

 covered volcanic peaks, while they seem in some manner a 

 contradiction in terms. Perhaps the most extraordinary is the 

 only known active volcano in Antarctica, Mt. Erebus, which 

 smokes away all alone in its illimitable barren glaciated sur- 

 roundings. 



There is a volcano on the Alaska Peninsula named Mt. Katmai 

 that made the biggest noise ever recorded by man. Before June 2, 

 1912, this peak was the third-highest in Alaska. It was just 

 another great snow-capped and seemingly peaceful mountain. 

 There were numerous crevices in the earth all the way from the 

 middle Aleutians to central Alaska from which steam, gases, or 

 fine ash were extruded on a fairly continuous basis, but for the 

 most part the country surrounding Mt. Katmai was clothed in 

 lush summer vegetation and considerable stands of trees. Then 

 suddenly at the end of May of that year the earth began to 

 quake. This continued for four days, during which all the local 

 inhabitants — mostly Eskimos — very sensibly packed up and left. 

 And just in time, because the peaceful valley alongside this 

 mountain suddenly was convulsed and enormous cracks opened 



