ARCTIC WALRUS. 
235 
tusks^ bending downwards : there are no cutting- 
teeth, but in each jaw^ both above and below, are 
four roundish grinders with flat tops : the tusks 
are sometimes upwards of two feet in length, but 
are more generally of about one foot long; and it 
sometimes happens that the two tusks are not 
perfectly equal in length. The chief resorts of 
the Walrus are the seas about the northern parts 
of America. They are found in the gulph of St. 
Laurence^ according to Mr. Pennant, between 
latitude 47 and 48, which seems to be the most 
southern latitude in any part of the globe. They 
are also found in Davis's Straits, and within 
Hudson's Bay, it lat. 62. They inhabit the coast 
of Greenland; and are found in great numbers 
about Spitsbergen, and on the floating ice in 
those parts. They occur likewise on the coasts 
of Nova Zembla, and on the head lands stretch- 
ing towards the North Pole. 
They are gregarious animals, and are some- 
times seen in vast multitudes on the masses of 
floating ice so frequent in the northern seas. 
They are said to produce their young early in the 
spring; and rarely bring more than one at a 
birth : their food consists of sea plants^ shell-fish, 
&c. 
The Walrus is a harmless animal, unless pro- 
voked or attacked, in which case it becomes fu- 
rious^ and is extremely vindictive. Wlien sur- 
prised upon the ice, the female is said first to pro- 
vide for the safety of the young, by flinging it 
into the sea, and immediately precipitating itself 
