DEEP-SEA FAUNA. 135 



ice, for digging in the sand in search of the 

 Mussels upon which they feed, and for general 

 fighting purposes. 



It is said that in former times the Walruses 

 lived in immense herds in regions much further 

 south than they do now ; but the ravages of the 

 hunter, who chased them for their ivory tusks 

 and their oil, have driven them into regions 

 where they are rarely visited by anyone but the 

 Arctic explorer ; and to those of my readers who 

 wish to learn more of their habits, I can but say 

 that in the pages of Dr Nansen's book, " Farthest 

 North," he will find the story of the Walrus 

 written in a manner which no man living could 

 have done more vividly and brilliantly than the 

 great Norwegian zoologist and explorer. 



CHAPTEK VI. 



DEEP-SEA FAUNA, 



SOME of the most important conditions under 

 which life at the bottom of the deep sea occurs 

 have been mentioned in the first chapter. We 

 have pointed out that the pressure is enormous, 

 that the temperature is only a few degrees above 

 the freezing point, and that, except in those places 

 where phosphorescent animals emit a faint light, 

 it is absolutely dark, no rays of direct sunlight 

 being able to penetrate such a mass of water as 

 lies between the bottom of the ocean and its 

 surface. 



With such conditions to contend with it is not 



