.J m; IS, 1883.1 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



48S 



I tav I 

 offei 



losely 

 jiirwii 



n'„ 



csfed 



rtemUi 



-mallei 



nnt 



s and 



from 



bis 



paw, 



oinple 



ins 



thf.ii' 



mm-- i 



IIOU 



gh to 



Arctic 



Sea 



i, the 



could 



the 



et" n-e. 



identical with that of tile coarser clams, from which 

 bivalve in North Hudson's Say he derives hi- main sub- 

 lenw 8Bd for procuring which his villalntniR-looking 

 ii- specially designed, I think I eannol better 

 (inscribe the walrus ' flavor 'than byciting the onpoBtios.1 

 illustration of inu'jli Texas beef, marbled Willi fat, Boakefl 

 in clam juice. I ihink the two would be 90 n-ar .alike thai 

 it, would 'take an Esquimau tO distinguish between them. 

 Tn main this meal seems to be uxtremely repulsive, hut 



much of this abhorrence lie- in the imagination ami can he 

 overcome in I he same v, a v that isihnie with I he frog-hater, who 

 eats them as rioebirds and 1 hen resembles Oliver Twist in 

 his furthei actions. 



The flesh of fchfiWalfUS i- protected bj a thick blanket of 

 fat, or "blubber, ' which allows it to resist the Constantly 

 eiild waters of the Arelie =eas, and (his blubber yields uearl'v 

 a barrel of oil, ami this, with its tusks and occasionally its 

 hide, makes it a constan1 victim to tire avarice of the human 

 race. lis tusks are the most distinguishing feature, their 

 ivory whiteness showing plainly marked ag(U'u8l its dark, 

 swarthj breast. Tneyare (Vom one lo two feet in length 

 when fully grown, and weigh about five pounds (bringing 



alioui i weniv live cents a pound in ihe ivory markets], one 

 aide being ofteD longer than the other. Whenever this is 

 the (.esc Ihe shorter is usually the heavier, thus equalizing 

 (In weights. I think this would indicate that, the morse is 

 not inclined to use the tusks equallv in digging- for clams, 

 or any other continuous labor with Eliejn. being; 

 hi-' tusks arc concerned, right aud left handed, so 



The tusks are used as weapons of defense and 

 and, according to some, the wall uses have c 

 conflicts with Ihe poku bear iiliovc, aud Ihe i 

 water. I think the polar often attacks the s 

 KUCCCeds in killing them by powerful blow 

 or by stunning them in this manner, anil c 

 destruction afterward, for the bear is cun 

 crawl right on top of and kill the common 

 most wavy animal in these regions, ami he 

 easily do so with the stupid .sea-horse. Still I think the 

 larger ones, lying so close to the opeai water as they usually 

 do, and weighing fully twice as much as their opponent', 

 ought to make a successful defense until 'they could dive 

 beyond Ilia reach Bome give Bruin the credit of being 

 smart enough to take a large stone or block of ice between 

 his paws and converting himself into a catapult to use It to 

 crack Ins victim's thick" skull bv a blow from a distance, 

 (♦specially whore he is favored b/ positions of altitude as 

 precipitous cliffs, 01 the perpendicular walls of icebergs. 



The contents of 1he stomach of a walrus, consisting 

 mostly of (rushed clams, is one of the highest delicaeir-s oT 

 the Inmiiis, but 1 was never starved long enough to partake 

 of this natural clam chowder while living in these regions. 

 although enjoying that at; home. 



Captain Hall, when in this same country and on a walrus 

 hunt, concluded from the fact that rarely any part of a 

 clam -hell larger than a dime is fouud in the sea-horse's 

 stomach, and also finding at various times a single shell 

 close by a walrus hole (or aperture in the ice where the 

 brute sucks its head through to blow or breathe), that the 

 walrus digs but one ehitn at a time from the bottom of the 

 sea, and then comes to the surface to blow and eject the 

 shell. When 1 first heard of this clam diet of the walrus. 1 

 thought there would be no trouble in obtaining them on 

 some of the sand beaches I had seen near camp, but I soon 

 found that if I wanted clams I must take them second- 

 hand, i) In Tun nil, from the walrus. The shore ice in Xoith 

 Hudson's Bay forms to about six or eight feet in thickness, 

 and there is an average rise and fail in the tide of about 

 llfleen feet; so for about twenty-five feet below high water 

 i-il, (a he re the clam is supposed to be happiest) the shore 

 is frozen solidly some distance into its component earth or 

 sand, and no clam with suflleient regard for comfort will 

 he found nearer than eight or ten feet of tit* surface at tin- 

 lowest tides. 



Most of the autumn of 187S was occupied by my party 

 in sun-eying the illy charted northern shores of tlie bay, 

 id Odder and the two men whiting away a portion of 



their time in sh 



but an accurate 



these expeditious, like th 



of that season, would hi 



Gilder was, how 



successful, havi 



twenty miles d 



trophies. T 



sport, aud 



survey ,.t tl 



will. F 



r tb 



ith tl 

 •fauna, take 



t'ered !i 



. of De 



gged two walruse: 



holg'un and rifle, 

 n before aud after 

 ipestuous weather 

 Change. Colonel 



■efo: 



nher, a littlt 



a, an island about 



and brought their tusks buck as 



determined to try my luck at the same 



g business witli pleasure, finish my 



iiii easl aid. I started on the lflth 



ho d 



proved squally and tempestuous, and ou reaching the island 

 where the natives were camped— about ten miles from the 

 walrus island— it suddenly turned very cold, and my Esqui- 

 maux hunters could not be induced to proceed further. 

 Here we remained during three days aud nights of bitter 

 cold weather, When my northern friends determined upon 

 a home-ward journey back to the mainland in order to 

 build their igl.om or winter snow houses, as ihe ice 

 was forming rapidly, and it was now- altogether 

 too cold in a sealskin tent tree-?,//.:) to remain 

 there comfortably. 1 was fairly remunerated, however, 

 bv completing mj survey in' that vicinily. and ou 

 the 28d started homeward. The slush ice that always forms 



-embles 

 progress 



i:-t before it freezes, aud 

 snow thrown into the wati 

 lenibly whenever we neare 

 _.. Unmistakable language that 

 winter was near at hand. Reaching the m 

 fair shot at a huge walrus's head, <* hose '.",-. 

 upon a small granite tip of rock mar Ihe sh 

 him in the upper jaw. he quickly bad 



that closely te- 

 st, retarded our 

 I the land, and 

 our long polar 

 .inland 1 had a 

 uer had crawled 

 xe, but striking 

 ... adieu, leaving a 

 long streak of opalescent grease on the surface of Ihe water 

 lo mark his subaqueous course, A walrus's carcass floated 

 ashore a lew weeks afler that not far from the scene of my 

 bad. shooting, and Tooloitah and other Innuits believed it In 

 be mine, although it was worthies- fur anything except dog- 

 Iced. By the custom of the country . however, it belonged 

 to the man who fouud it, limited by 'the rights of possession 

 already explained, and 1 did not even rake the trouble to 

 look it Wp and ascertain, especially when 1 heard of the 

 prodigious number of wounded walrus that must have been 

 swimming ftround in Hudson's Bay just before ibis one 

 appeared wdiich was thrown up on tlie beach. 



By the 1st of February in 70, the few Esquimaux I hat 

 bad been clustered around my permanent camp on the main- 

 laud had moved over to Depot Island, three miles distant, 

 it being more available for walrus hunting in the icefloes, 

 which season was then just commencing, and for the first 

 lime among these savage sons of old Boreas T was brought 



in contact with one of their superstitions that caused toe no 

 little annoyance When tin: reindeer hunting season is 

 over, some time from December to February, depending 

 upon the locality and season, and nearly all the meat result- 

 ing therefrom disposed of, 'he walrus and seal come into 

 the Esquimau market and completely exclude Ihe reindeer, 

 which from that date becomes forbidden fruit. The itinuit 

 who has relinquished reindeer meat tears dow n his old tftfao, 

 or snow-hut, and builds a new one. as he must not eat 

 walrus or seal, or work on sealskin clothing in an iytrm 

 where Ihe now discarded reindeer has been eaten or clothing 

 made from his hide. The contrary rule is also good, for all 

 work on reindeer clothing m usl cease as soon as Ihe new 

 iglfMt is made I heir habitation. 



So far is this superstition carried that upon one occasion, 

 several years ago. SO Ah-mow, ti trustworthy lwillik Innuit, 

 informed me. when about one-half of the. natives then living 

 in lwillik (the Repulse Bay of white mem had commenced 

 their reindeer Lent, the walrus and seal suddenly became 

 very scarce owing to severe protracted northern winds hold 

 ing'the ice floes well off the shore. Tiie remaining half of 

 the natives still had a plentiful supply of reindeer tm 

 but "what was one man's meat was another man's poise 

 and the first portion had nearly starved in devotion to their 

 religion, alongside of (he far more esteemed reindeer incut, 

 when a lucky change of wind saved them from breaking 

 this Innuit commandment, or perhaps from starvation. 

 Shortly after their establishment at Depot Island their wal- 

 rus and seal hunting was amply rewarded with success, but 

 I found it impossible to secure any for myself or for dog 

 feed while I lived in my present ii/lrm. If I would only build 

 another, which they besought me to do, even on the" site of 

 the present one. they would bring- me plenty. Natives came 

 over daily but, brought no walrus meat, nor touched the 

 reindeer 'meat of those few that remained. Providing that 

 we took our dogs to Depot Island they would be fed 

 generously, and this method was finally adopted, to the sat- 

 isfaction 'of all parlies, the natives doing all the work. 

 This superstition is founded on the belief that there exist 

 two gods, antagonistic to each other, one ruling the seas and 

 all that in them is, aud the other the laud and with its beasts 

 and birds, and they appease their respective divine jeal- 

 ousies by holding true allegiance to only one at a time, dis- 

 carding the other completely for the while. 



The pursuit aud capture of the walrus is generally under- 

 taken with the spear and sealskin line and very much resem- 

 bles the killing of a whale as now practiced by our whal- 

 ing ships. It must he remembered that the walrus is always 

 found near the open water, simply crawling, upon a cake 'of 

 ice. oi- the edge of the shore ice, and never going further 

 from thewater than is necessary to secure a comfortable spot 

 to be in, for the sea is his refuge in ease of danger. He is a 

 clumsy animal on laud or ice and his defense there is not at 

 all proportionate to his strength, lie is nearly always near 

 enough the ice. edge so that oiiegood lurch of his huge Van 

 will throw him into the water. 



The native hunter, when he has descried the large beast 

 on the ice-foot, crawls slowly and noiselessly on him, keeping 

 out of sight as much as possible, in which he is greatly aided 

 by ihe rough hummocks of ice aud the fact that his lazy 

 lubberly prey is generally about half .asleep, especially if it 

 be a fine sunny day. When sufficiently near, which depends 

 upon the nearness of the walrus to his refuge place— the 

 open water — with a few lightning like leaps the agile hunter 

 is alongside with the point of the walrus spear deeply bedded 

 in his victim's tough sides and ready to pay out the thirty- 

 foot line that he has had wouud arouud ids armor neck, 

 as the seahorse slides into the open water in his attempt to 

 escape. Now comes the tug of war! It, requires the skillful 

 and united strength of two active hunters to manage the line 

 or the walrus will pull it away or cut it off clean over the 

 sharp edge of some projecting ice hummock before Ihcv 

 have worried him out sufficiently to kill him with a lance. 

 Pulling in the line rapidly as it slackens or paying it out 

 with a steadily increasing resistance, until the beast is so ex- 

 hausted that he may lie pulled alongside anddispatehed by a 

 well directed Ihrusi from their sharp lances. 



The use of firearms, wherever the Esquimaux have been 

 able to obtain them, has much simplified the second act 

 of this tragedy, as the hunter then has but little trouble in 

 dispatching his game immediately after he has fastened to 

 him with the harpoon aud line, and while he is yel in his 

 most desperate struggles to escape. Where walrus are not 

 numerous, and consequently make such short excursions 

 that almost the merest movement is sufficient to throw 

 them into the water, the shot from a gun cannot be wholly 

 relied upon. for. unless instautlv fatal, which requires bet- 

 ter shooting than can lie usually done under such cold, un- 

 comfortable circumstances, the huge monster rolls into the 

 water and sinks to the bottom, where he dies !iu d remains 

 until the gases from putrefaction brings his carcass to the 

 surface. Wherever they congregate in immense herds, as 

 in the Arctic seas inside of Behring's Straits, or as they 

 used to be in the Spitzhergcu seas before the whalers thinned 

 ttliem out, they can be shot like so many tame sheen upon 

 the sreat ice cakes, where they crawl out to bask in the sun 

 for The first to crawl upon the'io. are crowded hack a con- 

 siderable distance by the newcomers, and so ,,u. until they 

 are forced a long way off from the water's edge, and there 

 fall victims ti. the rapid rifles of man. when surprised 



The above explanation of u hunt supposes that the hunter 

 has approached over ice and on foot, which is the ease when 

 the ice-floe is large enough or the walrus has perched upon 

 the Shore-ice. When he is on an isolated cake of small 

 dimensions or a small island, he is approached by several 

 persons in Maka (their .-mall ski,, canoes) aud instead of 

 holding on to the line, a large air light and inflated sealskin 

 about the size of a half ban. t i- attached to ils end and 

 thrown over as soon as lire harpoon is fast. At first the 

 Strength of the walrus is sufficient to drag this float under 

 the water for three or four minutes, but Ihelnlor cats rapidly 

 become shorter, and in less than half an hour he is lowing 

 it along on the surface of Ihe water, and the active hunter 

 watches his opportunity lo pierce him with a lance or dionl 

 him through the head or neck. Nearly all those killed in 

 the summer are thus obtained. During July and August iu 

 lh'fclO, while on Depot Island, many walruses were thus cap- 

 tured. At the highest point of the island a convenient 

 monument of stones was built and Over this my army signal 



:i i" -.-.a- placed, while hardly five minutes' would elapse 



before some Olle, Ihe. small bovs especially, would be look 

 dig through il, scauuing the drifting ice-pacs for live or SiS 

 miles on either side. As soon as one was discovered the 

 alarm would be given through the village ami several WOUld 

 put off in their //.(/s, ,md whenever the chase was nearby I 

 took my position at the telescope and viewed its exciting 



incidents, 



The motherwill right strenuously in defense of her young, 



and the latter cling tenaciously to its maternal defender, so 

 that success iu obtaining either is always rewarded with 

 the other. During very cold weather die walrus onlv re 

 mains a short while ou'lhe ice at any en. mm before retir- 

 ing to I he water to warm his tough* hide, and if a young 

 one he captured alive i( is almost impossible lo keep 'it so, 

 owing to the cold nights which soou kill it. 



There are very few instances indeed where this animal 

 has been seen alive in menageries far from ils native clime, 

 in Bailies seCOnd Arctic (1613) voyage, we see quaintlv 



recorded that "out- general! went on shoare ibis afternoone, 

 and killed foure deere, and brought a young morse alive 

 with hini abiioid." When near Spitsbergen' on this same 

 voyage he sent some men ashore lo get a piece of driftwood 

 discovered on the beach, and says. "Wee caused the men 

 that rowed the shallop to towe, a tree after them. Nowe. 

 vyhen wee had put off a little from the shoare. there came 

 live or six morses swimming hard by us and about us; some 

 of them coming so ueare the Sterne of the bote that we 

 called for our Jounces purposeing to strike them. The] 

 would, divers limes, hue their teeth upon the tree which 

 we towed las it were scratching the wood with their levlh), 

 hut wee slid rowed awaic. aud at length they left us. Then 

 we passed thiough a great deals of small ice. and sawc, upon 

 some pieces, two morses, and upon some, one." 



It is dangerous to wound one of these animals when in a 

 boat far from land, as instances are not wanting where they 

 have retaliated effcctuallv bv tearing (he boat's sides to piece's 

 by their huge swinging tusks. Many of the Twilliks and 

 kindred tribes wear mourning for departed ones upset and 

 drowned by the angry wounded walrus. 



The hide of the walrus is from an inch to an inch and a 

 half in thickness, and covered sparsely with short bristles. 

 The young walruses are quite dark in color, but gradually 

 turn lighter with age. until the oldest, are of a decidedly 

 light grizzly hue. The thick hide used to be taken by 

 walrus slayers to make a heavy porous leather, but 1 think 

 its usefulness has passed. By cooking ii fi» a day or two 



friable, and is so eaten by !he\iative.s,' those .if the northern 

 coast of Western Greenland being very fond of it. I did not 

 find such a desire, for it among the ln'nuits in Hudson's Bay. 

 When eafen raw or uncooked it is simply equivalent to 

 rubber belting of the same thickness, and it must be cut iu 

 small enough pieces to be swallowed at once, as the teeth 

 will make no more impression than on the substance named. 

 Add to this that the stout, bristly hairs makes one imagine 

 thatheis cutting- up and eating a wire hair-brush. As the 

 author had to live on it for five days, his observations are 

 of the most practical character, it is never used, even bv 

 the natives themselves, in this manner, until they are driven 

 to it, and even after the rancid oil is consumed with which 

 they could have cooked it. 



It is not a useless material, however, by any maimer of 

 means. Their dogs, to whom they owe more than any race 

 of people owe to their domestic animals, must be provided 

 for, and in the walrus hide the native sledceman finds the 

 most portable dog food knowu to the Arctic regions. This 

 animal is not fed oftener than every other day, even when 

 food is at its maximum abundance, 'and when' traveling on 

 a long journey, where space and weight upon the sledge has 

 to la: -ecaemtzed hi is n I fed olt;r: .- than ever ; third or 

 fourth day if walrus hide (or/W, as they call it) is given. 

 Thus provided, the Esquimau (log will stand a good journey 

 for a month or two without material or visible loss of flesh . 

 or strength. He may pick up a little refuse here and lliere, 

 but il will be a microscopical percentage on the regular diet. 

 The kow is generally packed along in large pieces about two 

 by three feet, and when fed lo the dogs is cut up into strips 

 about one or two inches wide (this will make them square, 

 as this is the thickness) and from a fool to sixteen inches 

 long. These the dogs swallow, and the uatives tell \wt that 

 it takes them two days to digest it, which surprised me in 

 regard to the powei and rapidity of (he digestive organs of 

 these camels of tlie cold, for 1 thought nothing less "than a 

 quartz mill or aquaiortis bath could handle it in'such a short 

 time. 



The dangers iu walrus hunting are much more numerous 

 than one would imagine from such a clumsy animal, 

 although the most conspicuous ones are indirect, such as 

 being drowned after the kink is ups ; .t, for the Esquimau, in 

 his waters of ice, is a stranger to the art of swimming. An- 

 other danger is being packed out to sea on the ice while an 

 unfavorable wind is blowing off shore, or a current is set- 

 ting out. Still, I know of two ugly-looking wounds made 

 by direct coulacf with their tusks', and one case of dentil 

 reported by u native which I believe. 



About a month before we started from Hudson's Bay pit 

 our sledge journey, Ikqueesik, a first-rate walrus hunter of 

 mine, attempted to make up my deficit in oil, with which 

 the parly was to start, and of 'course was untiring in his 

 efforts to do so without regard to weather. One day, while 

 on the outer edge of the floe with another Innuit hunter and 

 his brother, a mere- boy. with a strong off shore wind, the 

 piece "ii which they were watching broke off and floated 

 aw.. iv (o the southward in the storm. Thev were prisoners 

 on their jail of ice for three days, at l he end of which time 

 they were landed about fifteen miles away from the island 

 and made their way home on the sledge, which (hey had 

 had with them all the lime. They had not suffered much 

 material discomfort, having buill themselves a warm snow 

 hut .in the floe alongside a high hummock, and they killed 

 a walrus, which happened along, giving them plenty' of food 

 fur themselves and their ..logs, while a lamp was made from 

 his tough hide and wickiug from a piece of cloth and the 

 {'t/lfio reasonably warmed. The large sledge was placed ou 

 end resting against Ihe walls of the tijhu and the top slat 

 used as a perch for a lookout to watch for a change of wind 

 and the land. 



These driftings out to sea ou the ice are not unusual, ami 

 nearly every once vigorous hunlcr, in his old age. can tell 

 you of a personal incident or two of the kind during his life. 

 They are not half as dangerous as one would infer, "the most 

 critical times being in the late spring vv hen the ice is get 

 ting rotten, and a heavy storm is liable to break it to pieces. 

 One old lwillik in his younger days while walrussingou the 

 ice floe near Whale Pom! on the w'csleni side of Koe's Wel- 

 come, was carried far out to sea by a storm. Here he sub- 

 sisted for tifteen days on whai he captured, when the wind 

 carried him to ihe large island just south of Southampton 

 Island, and he found refuge among some strange native-, 

 whose language he could hardly Understand, and who owned 

 no dogs nor sledges, but who nevertheless took the kind 

 est care of him. as is the universal Esquimau custom. He 

 had to wait among them until the next summer vvben they 

 took him to Repulse Bay iu their Iciajcs, which were so frail 



