236 ARCTIC WALRUS. 



after it, carrying; it to a secure distance, and then 

 returning, with great rage, to revenge the injury. 

 They will sometimes attempt to fasten their teeth 

 on the boats, with an intent to sink them; or rise 

 in numbers under them to overset them; at the 

 same time shewing all the marks of rage, by 

 roaring in a dreadful manner, and gnashing their 

 teeth with great violence; if once thoroughly irri- 

 tated, the whole herd will follow the boats till 

 they lose sight of them. They are strongly at- 

 tached to each other; and it is said that a wound- 

 ed Walrus has been known to sink to the bottom, 

 rise suddenly up again, and bring with it multi- 

 tudes of others, which have united in an attack 

 upon the boat from whence the insult came. 



The Walrus has been tolerably well figured 

 byJonston, and this figure has been copied by 

 succeeding writers. An excellent representa- 

 tion is also given in pi. 52. of the last voyage of 

 our illustrious navigator, Captain Cook. It is 

 easy, however, to perceive a remarkable differ- 

 ence between the tusks of this last, and those of 

 the former kind figured in Jonston, and it clearly 

 appears, that though this difference is not such 

 as to justify our considering them as two distinct 

 species, yet it obliges us to remark them as va- 

 rieties; and it should seem, that, in the regions 

 then visited by Captain Cook, viz. the icy coasts 

 of the American continent, in lat. 70, the Walrus 

 is found with tusks much longer, thinner, and far 

 more sharp-pointed, in proportion, than the com- 

 mon Walrus; and they have a slight inclination 



