INTO THE ARCTIC 197 



piled in, masts were stepped, and we shot away 

 to the rescue. But the mate's crew solved their 

 own problem before we could come into action. 

 When it seemed likely the walrus would swamp 

 the boat. Long John harpooned the leader of the 

 herd. The big walrus dived and made off, haul- 

 ing the boat out of the midst of the furious 

 brutes to safety. The other animals did not pur- 

 sue. They bobbed about the scene of the conflict 

 for some time and finally disappeared. Long 

 John killed the big bull to which the boat was 

 fast, cut off its head, and the boat went back to 

 the battleground to take similar toll of the wal- 

 rus that had died under the mate's rain of bul- 

 lets. Eight carcasses were found afloat and as 

 many more probably had sunk. 



Ten heads with their ivory tusks were brought 

 aboard the brig as trophies of the hunt. The 

 tusks of the bull that had led the attack meas- 

 ured two feet six inches. The animal, according 

 to Mr. Winchester, must have been ten or twelve 

 feet long. The mate estimated its weight at 

 1,800 pounds — a guess, of course, but perhaps 

 a close one. 



