336 THE SEA-HORSE. 



ESQUIMAUX TAKING WALRUS. 



the quiet service of prodding up and digging 

 out clams and other shell-fisli from their 

 sand and mud beds in the shallow marine 

 waters and estuaries of the north, and to grub 

 the bulbous roots of the wild celery, and 

 to tear juicy sea-weed fronds from their 

 strong hold upon the rocky bottoms of 

 rugged coasts and reefs. The walrus does 

 not subsist upon any animal food or fish : 

 he is a good vegetarian and has a decided 

 taste for mollusks ; he is far too clumsy as a 

 swimmer to capture fish, and he seems to 

 be too much oppressed with his own un- 

 wieldy bulk to fight either by land or sea, 

 even in self-defense. Still, in some directions, 

 awkward as he is on shore, he is capable 

 of exerting immense muscular power and 

 displaying unwonted agility. To give an 

 illustration : the size and strength of a 

 polar bear are well known, but the largest 

 of its kind cannot knock down and drag 

 out a full-grown walrus bull, while it could 

 easily destroy and dispose of one of our 

 heaviest oxen in that manner. An incident 

 occurred under the eye of the writer, while 

 surveying on St. Matthew's Island, in 1874, 

 that very clearly presents the decidedly 

 different natures of the two animals. At 

 the base of a series of bold, high bluffs 



on the north side of the island, quite 

 a large herd of walrus were lying out 

 from the surf on the rocks, stretching 

 themselves comfortably in all sorts of 

 positions, as they basked with great pleas- 

 ure in the clear rays of an August sun. 

 An old male walrus was hauled up, a 

 little aloof from the herd, all alone, only 

 a few hundred yards away, and enjoy- 

 ing himself, also, after the fashion of his 

 kind when they come out for an air-bath. 

 Lurking in the background, I observed a 

 very large polar bear, as he took the 

 scent of this old sea-horse, and watched 

 him as he made a stealthy approach. 

 Crouching and flattened to the ground, the 

 bear rapidly came up to within a dozen 

 yards of the dozing morse, when he 

 sprang into a lumbering gallop, closed 

 at once with him, and attempted, bear- 

 like, to break in and crush his skull by 

 dealing the astonished walrus a swift suc- 

 cession of thumping blows over the head 

 with his heavy, powerful fore paws. The 

 massive occipital of the walrus was, how- 

 ever, too thick to give way, even under the 

 force of Bruin's immense feet ; and, after 

 the first shock of surprise, the clumsy am- 

 phibian righted himself, and, without striking 

 back a single blow, turned and started for 

 the water. The bear tried to head him off; 

 but the strength of the walrus and the 

 momentum of his bulky body, when started 

 down grade to the surf, was more than his 

 great white foe could overcome. So, in- 

 stinctively realizing that his quarry was to 

 escape, the infuriated bear leaped upon his 

 broad, flabby back, buried his claws in the 

 tough hide and his teeth in the neck of the 



