424 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



place. Our photographer was with us, and I had him make a picture of every 

 thing as we found it. This trip I enjoyed very much. 



Coming back we were close to several walruses sporting in the water, and 

 finally succeeded in shooting two of them. One of them was coming toward our 

 boat with his mouth open, and very determined and savage-looking. Mr. Clay 

 and myself let him come within twenty feet of us, when we lodged two balls in 

 his head. Mine went into his mouth. He sank at once and this was the last 

 seen of him. This is the objection to shooting walruses in the water. 



They sink as soon as dead, and unless they are harpooned there is no way 

 of getting at them. We had no harpoon. The only certain way to get them by 

 shooting would be to catch them on the land or ice, creep up to leeward of them 

 and shoot them in the head. But this can rarely be done, unless the ball strikes 

 the eye, because their heads are solid masses of bones. Mr. Clay killed the other 

 walrus, a young one. I felt sorry for killing the poor things when we found we 

 could not secure them, and shall not shoot any more unless we can be certain of 

 gathering them afterward. 



Another party visited Littleton Island, and secured the mail left by the ship 

 Pandora for the English (Capt. Nares') expedition. This will be sent to England 

 by our returning ship. We also visited Cary Island and Ritter Bay, and left 

 some supplies at the latter place. We also visited Cape Hawkes, and examined 

 some supplies left by the English expedition, and took aboard a fine boat left by 

 them for the convenience of polar expeditions. 



We have seen many strange animals of the deep. Schools of white whales 

 and numbers of norwhals have made their appearance frequendy. Several seals 

 have been seen, but they are very shy. Lieutenant Lockwood and myself killed 

 a monster square-flipper seal, the largest kind, about 300 miles south of here. 

 We spied him from the ship on a cake of ice, and we rowed out to him very 

 quietly. I sent one bullet through bis neck and Lockwood one into his body. 

 He rolled off into the water, but we were close to him, and quickly drove a gaff 

 into him and hauled him back upon the cake and then into the boat. He weighed 

 400 pounds. 



Musk oxen and seals are our main dependence for fresh meat, and, with the 

 exception of bears and foxes, not very plentiful, are almost the only living 

 things found so far north. Occasionally a bear or wolf makes its appearance. 

 We have seen a few geese from the ship, and have killed five dovekies, some- 

 times called sea pigeons, but the auks and ducks have all apparently remained 

 south. We have killed to-day fourteen musk oxen, which will give us fresh meat 

 for three months for everybody. 



We have two Esquimaux with us, and they afford a good deal of amusement to 

 everybody. We depend upon them to teach us many things, particularly dog 

 driving. They appear to be jolly, wiUing, good-natured fellows, and come highly 

 recommended. I had one on the ice and he gave us considerable sport, especial- 

 ly when it came to jumping across the cracks in the ice. His legs were so short 

 tiiat he frequendy fell short of the other side, when, of course, there would be a 



