R. BROWN ON THE SEALS OF GREENLAND. 59 



piece, and repeating the same operation as if in pain. A few 

 hours afterwards I saw a flock of Saxicola cenanthe (it was on 

 a land-floe, close to the Fru Islands) alight on the spot. On going 

 over, I found the ice speckled with one of these species of HcEmato- 

 pinusy on which the birds had been feeding; and the unfor- 

 tunate Walrus seems to have been in the throes of clearing itself 

 of these troublesome friends after the approved fashion. Sub- 

 sequently I have seen these and other small birds alight on the 

 back of the Walrus to peck at these insects, just as crows may 

 be seen sitting on the backs of cattle in our fields. Its tusks it 

 apparently uses to dig up the molluscous food on which it chiefly 

 subsists ; and I have seen it also use them to drag up its huge 

 body on to the ice. In moving on shore it aids its clumsy pro- 

 gression by their means. 



The Walrus, being an animal of considerable cerebral develop- 

 ment, is capable of being readily domesticated. For many years 

 past the Norwegians have frequently brought specimens to dif- 

 ferent Scandinavian ports ; and two have reached England, and 

 survived a short time. More than a century ago one of these 

 animals reached England. De Laet,* quoting from Edward Worst, 

 who saw one of them alive in England which was three months 

 old and had been brought from Novai Semlaj, says : — *' Every day 

 it was put into water for a short time, but it always seemed happy 

 to return to dry ground. It was about the size of a calf, and 

 could open and shut its nostrils at pleasure. It grunted like a 

 wild Boar, and sometimes cried with a strong deep voice. It was 

 fed with oats and millet, which it rather sucked in than masticated. 

 It was not without difficulty that it approached its master ; but it 

 attempted to follow him, especially when it had the prospect of 

 receiving nourishment at his hand." Its naturalisation in our 

 Zoological Gardens having therefore become a subject of con- 

 siderable interest, I cannot better conclude these notes on the 

 habits of the Walrus than by describing a young one I saw on 

 board a ship in Davis's Strait, in 1861, and which, had it survived, 

 was intended for the Zoological Society. 



It was caught near the Duck Islands oft* the coast of North 

 Greenland, and at the same time its mother was killed ; it was 

 then sucking, and too young to take the water, so that it fell an 

 easy prey to its captors. It could only have been pupped a very 

 few hours. It was then 3 feet in length, but already the canine 

 tusks were beginning to cut the gums. When I first saw it, it 

 was grunting about the deck, sucking a piece of its mother's 

 blubber, or sucking the skin, which lay on deck, at the place where 

 the teats were. It was subsequently fed on oatmeal and water 

 and pea-soup, and seemed to thrive upon this outre nourishment. 

 No fish could be got for it ; and the only animal food which it 

 obtained was a little freshened beef or pork, or Bear's flesh, which 

 it readily ate. It had its Ukes and dislikes, and its favourites on 

 board, whom it instantly recognised. It became exceedingly 



* " Description des Indes Occidentales," apud Buffon. 



