140 



The Living Animals of the World 



Bii i 



!io„ of 11,.: 11,,:,. Wall,:,- Iicith.v:hM-\ [T.-i.iy. 



MALE WALKUS. 

 The "tusks" of th« walrus ave jint tu many practical uses (lurini,- life, 

 and after death are riiueh valued for the Ivory. 



The Walrus. 



The distinguishing features of the wah'us 

 have been mentioned in the introductory 

 remarks to this chapter. It should be added 

 that it has an external ear-passage, thougli 

 no external ear.s, and ^'ery thick and bristl}' 

 whiskers. It is jjractically confined to the 

 Arctic Circle, though once its range extended 

 to the British coasts (where its bones are 

 found in the Sufiblk Crag) and to ^'irginia. 

 The skull of one was found in the peat at 

 Ely — evidence that it once ascended rivers. 



The walrus stands alone ; it is a real 

 monster of the deep. Strange and awful 

 stories were told of it by some of the early 

 voyagers to the Arctic Seas ; but Captain Cook 

 gave a very different account of his impressions of the walruses which he saw on tlie north coast 

 of America : '-They lie in herds of many hundreds on tlie ice. huddling over one another 

 like swine. (They lie just like a lot of pigs in a yard.) They r(jar and bray so very loud, 

 that in the night, or in foggy weather, they gave us notice of the vicinity of the ice 

 l)efore we could see it. "We never found the whole herd asleep, some being always on the 

 watch. These, on the approach of the boat, would awaken those next to them; and the 

 alarm being thus gradually communicated, the whole herd would awake presently. But they 

 were seldom in a hurry to get away, till after they had been once tired at; they then would 

 tumble over one anotlier into the sea in the utiiKjst C(_infusion. They did not appear to us 

 to be that dangerous animal which authors have descrilied, not even when attacked. "\'ast 

 numbers of them would follow us, and come close up to the lioats ; but the flash of the 

 musket in the pan, or the bare pointing of it, would send them down in an instant. The 

 female will defend her young to the last, and at the expense of her own life, whether in 

 the water or upon the ice: nor will tlie young one quit the dam. though she be dead; so that 

 if one l)e killed the other is certain prey." Tlie long pendent tusks, bristly whiskers, small 

 bloodshot eyes, and great size lent cohjur to the terrifying tales of the walrus. But more 

 ancient voyagers than Captain Cook told tlie truth— that the '-morses," as they called them, 

 were harmless creatures, which often followed the ships from sheer curiosity. They sleep on 

 the ice like elephantine pigs, and dive and rout on the sea-bottom for clams, cuttle-fish, 

 and seaweeds. I'robalily the long tusks are used to rake u}> mussels and clams; they also help 

 the walrus to climb on to the ice. A young walrus was ke})t for some time by the members 

 of the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition, and was found to be an amusing pet. One kept on 

 board a Dundee whaler used to sleep with an Eskimo dog, and got into the same kennel 

 with it. It ate blubliK^r and salt pork, but liked the sailors' pea-sou}) better than anything 

 else; it was most socialite, and could not bear to be alone — w-ould tumble down tlie hatchway 

 to seek the society of its beloved sailors, and scramble into the cabin if the door were open. 

 When it fell ill and before it died, it seemed most grateful for any attention shown to it. Tlie 

 parent walrus shows the greatest courage in trying to defend the young one. Walruses are 

 now scarce; but as the ivory is the only part of them of much present value, there is a chance 

 that they may not be killed otf entirely. 



The True RE.iLS. 



The True Seals, with their greatly modified forms, heads set almost on to their shoulders, 

 with no neck visible, have well-developed claws on all the toes, and in the tyjiical species have 

 double-rooted and small cheek-teeth. The number of the incisors is \ariable. The Grey Seal 



