i;3 SCIENTIFIC ILLUSTRATIONS [Ins 



Social Instincts in Unexpected Forms. 



Social instincts, and even noble traits, are not confined to 

 mankind. We find them in strange places and in unexpected 

 forms. Look at the walruses, for instance ; the social instincts 

 with them are most powerful, and they fight for one another 

 with a courage and an obstinacy that their strength and for- 

 midable weapons render frequently fatal to the hunters. 

 Frequently the walruses lie in great numbers along the banks 

 of the ice, motionless, and piled pell-mell one upon another. 

 But one of them, during their repose, enacts the part of sentinel. 

 At the slightest appearance of danger it precipitates itself into 

 the water. All the others immediately attempt to follow ; but 

 in this critical moment the slowness of their movements some- 

 times produces the grotesquest scenes. In the confused state 

 in which they have been lying, it is with difficulty they disen- 

 gage themselves from the masses of heavy flesh which enclose 

 them on every side. Some roll awkwardly into the water; 

 others crawl painfully along the ice. The weight of their 

 body and the enormous disproportion of their limbs render all 

 movements upon the ice extremely difficult for them. But as 

 soon as these ungainly animals are in the water, they resume 

 all their vigour, and, if attacked, defend themselves with 

 astonishing courage. At times they themselves begin the fight ; 

 they dart upon the fishermen's boats, seizing the gunwales with 

 their long hook-like teeth, and draw them furiously towards 

 them. At times they glide under the skiff, and endeavour to 

 capsize it. Their hardy, scaly skin resists the blows of pike 

 and spear, and it is neither without difficulty nor danger that 

 the poor fishermen escape from such formidable adversaries. 

 In these desperate combats the walruses are generally led by a 

 chief, who is easily recognised by his great size and impetuous 

 ardour. If the fishermen succeed in killing him, at that instant 

 all his comrades abandon the struggle, gather around him, sup- 

 port him, by means of their teeth, on the surface of the water, 

 and drag him in all haste far from the attacking boats, and out 

 of peril. But the most impressive and dramatic scene is when 

 the walruses fight to secure their young. Generally they at- 

 tempt to deposit them on a bank of ice, in order that they may 



