AMONG THE WALRUS HERDS 137 



Mention should be made of the fact that every speci- 

 men we secured, even the oldest, was covered with a 

 sparse brown fur nearly one inch long. 



It was now Lovering's turn again, for I had shot 

 second to ColUns. He and Kleinschmidt stalked a herd 

 and while the latter was getting his motion-picture 

 cameras out of the kayaks Lovering shot four walrus 

 dead with four rapid shots. The photographer got his 

 feet wet and on the long paddle home suffered greatly 

 from the cold. Lovering urged all the way that Klein- 

 schmidt do nothing until he had helped recover the four 

 dead walrus, as the wind and current were setting them 

 rapidly westward into the thick pack. Nevertheless, 

 Kleinschmidt would change his gear and sent Lovering 

 off in the dory with Albrecht and two Eskimos, promising 

 to follow him at once in the umiak, while Collins and 

 I started in the kayaks. 



Collins and I had a long journey before we got to any 

 goal. First we headed for the sea barrier where we had 

 earlier seen several herds and found ourselves in a heavy 

 groundswell among great heaving blocks of ice that 

 threatened any moment to crush our tiny vessel. As 

 they rose and fell, grinding against each other or pound- 

 ing their overhanging edges on the water, the surf broke 

 in spray high above their windward sides and the green 

 and white water swirled through the crevices between 

 them. The only fact which made it possible for us to 

 navigate among them was that they moved almost at 

 one speed and kept their distances from each other for 

 a long time. The lighter, smaller ice always drifts 

 faster because affected more by the swifter surface cur- 

 rent, but it would take time for all intervals to be closed 

 up. The kayaks also were swept by wind and wave still 



