A HUNTER'S CAMP-FIRES 



Through the haze of smoke we could see four of the great 

 brutes motionless on the floe, but during the general reloading 

 of rifles one wounded walrus began slowly but surely sliding 

 and struggling toward the edge of the floe, and in spite of our 

 bracing against it with oars and pouring a stream of lead with 

 the rifles into its skull, it managed to reach the water. A de- 

 parting blow from one hind flipper drenched everybody in a 

 cloud of spray and knocked the heavy boat back several yards, 

 piling the occupants in a confused heap in its bottom. By the 

 time we had righted matters a second wounded walrus rolled off 

 the floe, but fortunately there was a projecting shelf of ice 

 several yards below the surface of the sea, and when the water 

 had cleared somewhat we could see that both carcases were 

 stranded below us. One after the other they were harpooned, 

 warped up to the edge of the floe by the combined strength of 

 the ten men, and securely lashed to an oar driven into a crevice 

 of the ice. 



As the Diana was "already steaming toward us under a black 

 cloud of smoke, and we could see the occupants of one of the 

 other boats finishing off the first harpooned walrus, we left the 

 four carcases on the reddened floe and rowed in the direction 

 of the second struggling walrus. This animal, impeded by the 

 drag, and surrounded by a sympathetic escort of bellowing 

 friends, was swimming slowly away from us in the open water 

 half a mile distant. While we were overtaking it our third 

 Eskimo was crouched in the bow of the boat, fingering his 

 harpoon lovingly and gazing wistfully at distant walrus- 

 covered ice-pans, when the brown bulk of a walrus suddenly 

 raised itself from the water two yards in front of the bow and 

 immediately received the waiting harpoon in its side. It had 

 barely sunk in the water, with a muffled roar of pain, when a 

 second walrus head rose from the sea several yards to the right, 

 and I promptly killed this animal by a shot in the brain. We 

 managed to make fast to the dead walrus before it disappeared, 



38 



