238 ARCTIC WALRUS. 



not appear to us to be that dangerous animal 

 some authors have described ; not even when at- 

 tacked. They are rather more so to appearance 

 than in reality. Vast numbers of them would fol- 

 low, and come close up to, the boats. But the flash 

 of a musquet in the pan, or even the bare pointing 

 of one at them, would send them down in an in- 

 stant. The female will defend the young one to 

 the very last, and at the expence of her own life, 

 whether in the water or upon the ice. Nor will 

 the young one quit the dam, though she be dead; 

 so that if you kill one, you are sure of the other. 

 The dam, when in the water, holds the young 

 one between her fore fins. 



" Why they should be called sea-horses is hard 

 to say; unless the word be a corruption of the 

 Russian name Morse ; for they have not the least 

 resemblance of a horse. This is, without doubt, 

 the same animal that is found in the Gulph of St. 

 Laurence, and there called Sea-Cow. It is cer- 

 tainly more like a cow than a horse, but this like- 

 ness consists in nothing but the snout. In short, 

 it is an animal like a seal, but incomparably 

 larger." 



The teeth of the Walrus are used by way of 

 ivory; but on this subject authors seem to vary 

 considerably ; some representing them as superior 

 to common ivory, and others greatly inferior, 

 and more subject to turn yellow. The animals 

 are now killed chiefly for the sake of the oil; and 

 it is said that a very strong and elastic leather 

 may be prepared from the skin. 



