238 
ARCTIC WALRUS. 
not appear to us to be that dangerous animal 
some authors have described ; not even when at- 
tacked. They are rather more so to appearance 
than in reahty. Vast numbers of them would fol- 
low^ and come close up to, the boats. But the flash 
of a musquet in the pan^ or even the bare pointing 
of one at them, would send them down in an in- 
stant. The female will defend the young one to 
the very last^ and at the expence of her own life, 
whether in the water or upon the ice. Nor will 
the young one quit the dam, though she be dead; 
so that if you kill one, you are sure of the other. 
The dam, when in the water, holds the young 
one between her fore fins. 
^' Why they should be called sea-horses is hard 
to say; unless the word be a corruption of the 
Russian name Morse ; for they have not the least 
resemblance of a horse. This is, without doubt, 
the same animal that is found in the Gulph of St. 
Laurence, and there called Sea-Cow. It is cer- 
tainly more like a cow than a horse, but this like- 
ness consists in nothing but the snout. In short, 
it is an animal like a seal, but incomparably 
larger." 
The teeth of the Walrus are used by way of 
ivory; but on this subject authors seem to vary 
considerably ; some representing them as superior 
to common ivory, and others greatly inferior^ 
and more subject to turn yellow. The animals 
are now killed chiefly for the sake of the oil ; and 
it is said that a very strong and elastic leather 
may be prepared from the skin. 
