THE WALRUS. 181 



when it is instantly seized and swallowed by its adversary. Instances have been 

 known, however, where the Orca has paid dearly for its murderous temerity, as the 

 enraged Walrus, when bereft of her young, will sometimes strike her tusks into 

 her foe with such effect as to cause a mortal wound or instant death. 



Among the numerous enemies of the Walrus, it is to be regretted that the 

 whalers are included, they having been driven to the necessity of pursuing them on 

 account of the scarcity of Cetaceans. Already the animals have suffered so great a 

 slaughter at their hands that their numbers have been materially diminished, and 

 they have become wild and shy, making it difficult for the Esquimaux to success- 

 fully hunt them, in order to obtain a necessary supply of food. It is stated that 

 there has been much suffering among those harmless people of the far north, on 

 account of this source for supplying themselves with an indispensable article of 

 sustenance being to an alarming extent cut off. 



According to The Friend^ published at Honolulu, March 1st, 1872, the whalers 

 first began to turn their attention to Walrus -catching about the year 1868, and the 

 work has continued up to the present time. Usually, during the first part of every 

 season there has been but little opportunity to capture whales, they being within 

 the limits of the icy barrier. Hence, much of the whalers' time during the months 

 of July and August has been devoted to capturing the Walrus ; and it is estimated 

 that at least sixty thousand of these animals have been destroyed by the whale- 

 fishers in the Arctic Ocean and Behring Sea during the last five years, which pro- 

 duced about fifty thousand barrels of oil, with a proportionate amount of ivory. 



