THE WALRUS. 273 



really be of consequence to the walrus, since their roots are 

 imbedded in two thick cushions of tough blubbery substance, 

 so large as to give a marked character to the countenance, and 

 evidently pointing out the growth and nourishment of these 

 whiskers, as a matter of some consideration in the eye of 

 nature."* 



" Mr. Colquhoun, who lately returned from an expedition to 

 Spitzbergen and the Finmark coasts, found walruses lying in 

 herds of many hundreds each, on the shores of Hope and Cherie 

 Islands, and took a great quantity of them. The most favour- 

 able time for attacking them is when the tide is out, and they 

 are reposing on the rocks. In this case, if the javelors be very 

 alert, and fortunate enough to kill the lower rank of them, 

 which lies nearest the shore, before the hindmost can pass, 

 they are able to secure the whole, as the walrus when on shore 

 is so unwieldy a creature, that it cannot get over the obstacles 

 thrown in its way by the dead bodies of its companions, and 

 falls in this manner a prey to the lance of the seaman. It does 

 not, however, die tamely ; and, perhaps, no animals offer a more 

 determined resistance than the walrus, when attacked on an 

 element where it is incapable of exerting its prodigious strength, 

 striking furiously at its enemy, and continually turning round 

 to assist some companion in distress. 



" Directly an alarm of the approach of an enemy is given, 

 the whole herd makes for the sea. When they reach the water, 

 they tumble in as expeditiously as possible ; but they are 

 often so numerous, and their size so great, that a short time 

 elapses before they can escape, from want of space ; and then 

 those who happen to be in the rear, being pressed by those 

 behind them, and finding their way blocked up by their com- 

 panions in front, attempt by means of their tusks, to force 

 their way through the crowd 5 and several that have been 

 captured at the time, have exhibited numerous wounds inflicted 

 on their hind-quarters by their impatient comrades." f 



* Abridged from Tales of a Voyager in the Arctic Ocean (Second 

 Series). 1829. f Abridged from A Winter in Lapland. 



