THE PACIFIC OCEAJSr. 215 



city. "Tlioir mode of battle is very singular. The 

 two rival giant knights waddle heavily along ; they 

 meet and join snout to snout ; then they raise the 

 fore part of the body as far as the fore paws, and 

 open their immense mouths ; their eyes are inflamed 

 witli rage, and they dash against each other with the 

 greatest violence in their power : now they tumble 

 one over the other, teeth crash with teeth, and jaws 

 with jaws ; they wound each other deeply, some- 

 times knocking out each other's eyes, and more fre- 

 quently their tusks ; the blood flows abundantly ; 

 but these raging foes, without ever seeming to ob- 

 serve it, prosecute the combat till their strength is 

 completely exhausted. It is seldom that either is 

 left dead on the field, and the wounds they inflict, 

 however deep, heal with inconceivable rapidity. The 

 object of these encounters is to obtain the lordship 

 of a herd of females, by which a male is always 

 accompanied, and over which he rules with undi- 

 vided empire." 



While on land, the motions of these animals are 

 slow and unwieldy, and a]:)parently productive of 

 much fatigue. Their gait is described as singular : 

 as they crawl along, the vast body trembles like a 

 great bag of jelly, owing to the mass of blubber by 

 which the whole annual is invested, and wdiicli is as 

 thick as it is in a whale. After having proceeded 

 thus for fifteen or twenty yards, they halt to rest ; 

 and if forced to go forward by repeated blows, their 

 appearance presently manifests the distress to which 

 they are subjected by the increased exertion. It is 

 remarkable that, in tiiese circumstances, the pupil of 



