ARCTIC WALRlTS. 
Hence," adds BufFon, " the ancients were 
acquainted with the Seal, but had no know-» 
ledge of the Wah us." It was, however, known 
to King Alfred of England, about the year 
890, from the information of 0£ther the 
Norwegian ; " who made a voyage beyond 
the North Cape of Norway, to hunt Horse 
Whales, which have teeth of great value, some 
of which he brought to that king." 
These animals inhabit the Coast of Spitz- 
bergen, Nova Zembla, Hudson's Bav, the 
Gulph of St, Lawrence, and the Icy Sea as 
far as Cape Ischuktschi and the islands off it ; 
but they do not extend southward so far as 
the Mouth of the Anadyr, nor are any seen 
on the Islands betvs'een Kamtschatka and Ame- 
rica, They are gregarious; and, in some 
places, appear in herds even of several hun^ 
dreds : but they are shy, and avoid places 
which are much frequented by mankind. Buf- ^ 
fon remarks, that the number of these animals > 
' I 
must be greatly reduced ; or, rather, have re- ■ 
tired to unknown coasts: "for," says he, 
we find, in the Collection of Voyages to 
the North, that in the year 1704, near Cherry 
Island, in the latitude of sixty-five degrees 
forty- 
