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THE WALRUS 



This animal inhabits the northern circumpolar seas of both the Old 

 and New Worlds, but is now much more restricted in its range than 

 formerly. In North America it is still occasionally found as far south 

 as the coast of Labrador, where once it was numerous, while in Europe 

 it reaches the coast of Finmark. 



Large herds used to frequent the seas around Spitzbergen, which 

 are now deserted or where they only appear in small numbers. Though 

 mentioned long ago as a visitor to the Scottish coast, the first reliable 

 record was of one killed in the Outer Hebrides at Caolas Stocknis, 

 Harris, in December 1817. This specimen, measuring some ten feet 

 in length, was seen and described by MacGillivray. 



According to Dr. Edmonston one was killed in the Shetlands in 1 8 1 5 , 

 and another was obtained on Edday, Orkneys, in June 1825, while 

 the last appears to have been killed by Capt. MacDonald, R.N., on the 

 East Haskeir, near Harris, in April 1841. There is also good evidence 

 showing that others have been seen at various times in British waters. 



The Walrus makes his home among the ice-floes surrounding the frozen 

 lands of the far north, where they herd in large colonies and pass their 

 time, when not in the water, in sleeping or sunning themselves on the ice. 



Dr. Kane, in his Arctic Exploration (pp. 243-246), thus describes the 

 animal and its habits : " The specimens in the museums of collectors 

 are imperfect, on account of the drying of the skin of the face against the 

 skull. The head of the Walrus has not the characteristic oval of the seal ; 

 on the contrary, the frontal bone is so covered as to present a steep 

 descent to the eyes and a square, blocked-out aspect to the upper 

 face. The muzzle is less protruding than the seal's, and the cheeks and 

 lips are completely masked by the heavy quill-like bristles. 



" Add to this the tusks as a garniture to the lower face, and you 

 have for the Walrus a grim ferocious aspect peculiarly his own. I 



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