ACEOSS THE SUB-ARCTICS OF CAXADA 



points by the Hudson's Bay Company, who find in them a 

 profitable source of revenue — the oil and hide products of 

 one animal being worth, on the average, abcfut thirty dollars. 



The Narwhal, or Sea Unicorn, is another valuable species 

 of whale found in the northern parts of the bay and strait, 

 but it is of comparatively rare occurrence. The remarkable 

 feature about this animal is that it possesses a long, straight, 

 spiral horn of very fine ivory, extending from the upper jaw 

 directly ia line with the body. The length of the horn ia 

 an adult male is frequently about eight feet, and in value 

 it is worth from $2.50 to $3.00 per pound. 



The Walrus fishery probably ranks next in value to that 

 of the white whale, for this, the largest species of the seal 

 family, is abundant almost everywhere throughout the 

 northern parts of Hudson Bay and Strait. In 1885-86 

 I met with great numbers of them along the north shore of 

 Hudson Strait, also in the vicinity of the Digges, the Ottawa 

 and the Sleeper islands, about the sandy shores of which 

 they delight to sport and feed upon the clams and other shell- 

 fish, which they dig from the sand in the shallow waters 

 with their long ivory tusks provided for this purpose. 

 According to A. P. Low, the present southerly limit of the 

 walrus is found at the Xorth Belcher Islands, in about lati- 

 tude .57 degrees, although, as is the case with many other 

 animals, its range was formerly much farther south. Mr. 

 Low also reports that under persistent hunting, of late 

 years, the number of these animals is being greatly dimin- 

 ished, and such being the case it would seem to be most 

 desirable that legal restrictions should be made to prevent 

 the wholesale slaughter and ultimate extermination of these 

 noble creatures, whose existence is almost essential to that 

 of the native tribes of Eskimos. 



Since a walrus, like most other seals, sinks immediately 

 when killed in the water, a very large percentage of those 

 killed by existing methods of hunting are completelv lost> 



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