THE WALRUS FAMILY 141 



are many persons who consider it the most beautiful member 

 of its Order. On a smooth ground-color, either of blackish 

 brown or yellowish gray, Nature has sportively arranged sev- 

 eral yards of broad, yellowish white ribbon. One strip goes 

 around the neck and ties under the throat. From a point 

 low down on the breast, another starts upward, curves grace- 

 fully over the shoulder, drops down in front of the pelvis, 

 where it comes together, then turns and crosses over the 

 body. In many specimens the uniformity of the width of 

 the ribbon is remarkably well maintained. 



This seal is from 4 to 6 feet in length. Its home is on 

 the eastern shore of Bering Sea, and in the fresh waters of 

 Lake Iliamna, in the upper end of the Alaskan Peninsula. 



THE WALRUS FAMILY 



Odobenidae 



Of all living monsters that ever move upon land, the 

 Pacific Walrus^ is one of the most wonderful. A full- 

 grown male is a living mountain of heaving flesh, wrinkled, 

 furrowed, and seamed, ugly as a satyr, and as strange in 

 habits as in appearance. 



Its form is that of a sea-lion with a neck enormously 

 thickened. Its upper jaw is provided with two long, strong 

 tusks of ivory, and its skin is almost destitute of hair. A full- 

 grown male measures from 10 to 12 feet in length from nose 

 to tail, the top of its head is about 5 feet from the ground, 

 the girth of its neck is from 12 to 14 feet, and it weighs from 

 1,800 to 2,000 pounds. Its skin varies from half an inch to 



^ 0-do-ben'us o-be'sus. 



