274 THE WALRUS. 



The female, who is provided with four ventral teats, brings 

 forth in the winter, either on the shore or on the ice, and has 

 generally but one young one, which, when just born, is about 

 the size of a pig of a year old. Captain Cook, who met with 

 large herds of walruses off the north coast of America, says, 

 " the mother will defend her young to the very last, and at the 

 expense of her own life, whether in the water or upon the ice. 

 Nor will the young one quit the dam, though she be dead ; so 

 that, if one be killed, the other is certain prey. The dam, when 

 in the water, holds her young one between her arms or fore 

 feet." 



Buffon says, that Evrard Worst saw in England a walrus 

 three months old, which would follow its master to be fed, 

 though its movement was slow and laborious. It did not seem 

 to suffer from the heat of the country, for it had the appear- 

 ance of robust health. 



A vast number of these animals are annually killed for the 

 sake of their hides, tusks, and the oil obtainable from their fat. 

 When the animal is killed it is skinned, and the hide, which 

 is of extraordinary thickness, is then cut into stripes, two or 

 three inches broad. These strips are imported to America, and, 

 after undergoing the usual process, form superior carriage traces 

 and braces. The hide is also used occasionally as matting to 

 protect the masts of vessels, and to make fire-buckets. The 

 smaller pieces of the hide are imported into England to supply 

 the glue manufactories. The coat of fat which lies under the 

 hide is melted into oil, of which each walrus produces, on an 

 average, nearly two barrels. The tusks, the ivory of which is 

 whiter, harder, and therefore more valuable than that of the 

 elephant, weigh from ten to twelve pounds each, and are much 

 used by dentists in making artificial teeth. 



