THE SEA-HORSE. 



339 



among themselves, and almost unmolested, 

 though several districts are carefully hunted 

 over b)' the Esquimaux of Nushagak for oil 

 and ivory. 



The shoal waters of this region and the 

 eccentric tides have alone preserved these 

 bands of rosmarus from extinction. Years 

 ago, when the North Pacific was the ren- 

 dezvous of the greatest whaling fleet that 

 ever floated, vessels could not, nor can they 

 now, approach nearer than sixty or even 

 eighty miles of them. 



The walrus is born upon the floating ice- 

 fields of the Arctic Ocean, and during the 

 whole of the summer remains there, care- 

 fully suckled and guarded by its mother, 

 with whom it instinctively retires to the 

 south as the packs begin to close over the 



top of the square, flat head ; the nostrils 

 open directly above the muzzle, and are 

 vertically oval and about an inch in di- 

 ameter. Like the seal, the walrus, when 

 traveling, swims entirely submerged, rismg 

 at prolonged intervals to breathe, when it 

 " blows " with little jets of vapor and a 

 noise not unlike a whale; on a cool, quiet 

 day, the progress of these creatures as they 

 swim may be traced by the succeeding tiny 

 white columns of vapor thrown up. As 

 the nostrils are scarcely raised above water, 

 nothing is seen of the animal itself, unless it 

 pauses in the act of swimming and rises up, 

 head and shoulders, for a survey. 



The chief glory of the rosmarus, how- 

 ever, must be embodied in its long white 

 tusks, or canine teeth of the upper jaw, that 



ESQUIMAUX DRESSING WALRUS-HIDES. 



sea. Following the example of its elders, it 

 soon begins to dig clams with its tiny tushes, 

 to pull sea-grass and celery roots, and to 

 tear up the tender sea-weed streamers, upon 

 all of which it fairly thrives, until it reaches 

 maturity in its eighth or ninth year, when it 

 will measure twelve to thirteen feet in length 

 from the nostrils to the root of its almost 

 imperceptible tail, and possess a girth of 

 twelve to fourteen feet around its blubber- 

 loaded neck and shoulders. The immense 

 accumulation of fat in the region of the neck 

 and shoulders makes the head and posteri- 

 ors look small in proportion and attenuated. 

 The singularly flattened head and massive, 

 abrupt, square muzzle strongly resemble 

 those of the African river-horse. The nostrils, 

 eyes, and ear-spots are planted nearly on 



are set firmly beneath the nostrils in deep, 

 massive, bony sockets, which cause the dis- 

 tinguishing breadth and square cut front of 

 the muzzle. These ivory teeth grow down, 

 sometimes spreading a little as they descend ; 

 then again the tips of the tusks will nearly 

 meet, var)'ing in size from the six or se\ en 

 inch tushes of youth to the average of two 

 feet at maturity ; the writer has seen ex- 

 amples over three feet in length, so large, 

 indeed, that they might have belonged 

 to a young mastodon. The usual weight 

 of a good full-grown tusk is about eight 

 pounds, but such teeth are rare : out of 

 a herd of a hundred adult walrus, it will be 

 very difficult to select an example which 

 shall possess a perfect pair of tusks, because 

 in rooting around for food they are almost 



