CHAPTER VII. 

 THE WALRUS. 



KosMAEUs OBESUS, lUigeT. 



Eminent naturalists have remarked that the Walrus, or Sea-horse, appears to 

 be the connecting link between the mammals of the land and those of the water. 

 This bulky and unwieldy animal when on shore has some resemblance to the seal, 

 yet differs materially in its proportions, as well as in its elephant -like tusks. The 

 "Walrus attains the size of the largest Sea Lion, and measures from ten to four- 

 teen feet in length, and about eight feet in circumference. Its head is rounded, 

 small (when compared with the anterior portion of the body), and flattened in 

 front. Its eyes are diminutive in size, and deeply set ; the small orifices of the 

 ears are about three inches behind, and two inches below the eyes. The cheeks 

 are studded with four or five hundred spines or whiskers, some of which are 

 rudimentary, while others grow to the length of three or four inches. They are 

 transparent, curved, abruptly pointed, and about the size of a straw, but not twisted, 

 as has been stated by some writers. Its neck is short, and its unwieldy body is 

 largest about the chest. Its posterior is abrupt. 



By the courtesy of Mr. H. W. Elliott, we present, on the following page figures 

 of the Walrus, copied from his excellent sketches, executed at St. Paul's Island, 

 Behring Sea, in 1872. The tusks of the Walrus are not only a means of defense, 

 but are used in obtaining food, and in mounting the ice-floes, when the shore is 

 not accessible. The canine teeth, as they are sometimes called, may average two 

 feet in length, including the root, which is imbedded in the jaw six or eight 

 inches. Yet some individuals have been taken with tusks two and a half to three 

 feet in length, and each weighing from ten to twenty pounds. In shape they are 

 somewhat bowing, and slightly hollowed, notched, and ridgy at their bases. At 

 their junction with the skull, they are about three inches asunder ; they project 

 at an obtuse angle from the upper jaw, and, in some instances, meet at their 

 extremities; while others grow perpendicular to each other, or turn outward on each 



