134 



THE INHABITANTS OF THE SEA. 



fond of his own music. The party now formed in single file, 

 and moved on in serpentine approach to the recently frozen ice 

 spots, which were surrounded by older and firmer ice. When 

 within half a mile the line broke, and each man crawled towards 

 a separate pool. In a few minutes the walruses were in sight, 

 five in number, rising at intervals through the ice in a body 

 with an explosive puff that might have been heard for miles. 

 Two large grim-looking males made themselves conspicuous as 

 leaders of the group. When the walrus is above the water, the 

 hunter lies fiat and motionless ; as it begins to sink, he is alert 

 and ready for a spring. The animal's head is hardly below the 

 water line, when every man advances in rapid run, and again, 

 as if by instinct, before the beast returns, all are motionless 

 behind protecting knolls of ice. In this way the Esquimaux have 

 reached a plate of thin ice, hardly strong enough to bear them, 

 at the very brink of the pool. Myouk, till now phlegmatic, 

 seems to waken with excitement. A coil of walrus hide lies by 

 his side, and he grasps the harpoon, ready for action. Presently 

 the water is in motion, and, puffing ^vith pent-up respiration, the 

 walrus rises before him. Myouk rises slowly, the right arm 

 thrown back, the left flat at his side. The walrus looks about 

 him, shaking water from his crest, Myouk throws up his left 

 arm, and the animal, rising breast-high, fixes one look before he 

 plunges. It has cost him all that curiosity can cost, for the 

 harpoon lies buried under his left flipper.'' The wounded animal 

 makes a desperate spring, and endeavours to lift itself upon the 

 ice, which breaks under its weight. These fruitless endeavours 

 give its physiognomy a still more vengeful expression ; its bel- 

 lowing degenerates into a roar, and crimson foam gathers round 

 its mouth. 



The Ice-Bear (JJrsus 

 maritvmus) may also be 

 reckoned among the 

 marine animals, as the 

 sea affords him by far 

 the greater part of his 

 food. From the com- 

 mon bear, whom he sur- 

 passes in strength and 

 size, as he attains a 

 length of nine feet, and a height of four, he not only distin- 



Polar Bear (Dreus maritimus). 



