THE SEA ELEPHANT. 
413 
The Walrus is manifestly the most remarkable of all marine animals, in respect to its 
uncouth bulk. It is a puzzle, seemingly. The reader should look at the enormous specimen 
of this creature in the Museum at Central Park, to form anything approaching an adequate 
idea of its proportions. When we observe the immense bulk, almost unprovided with limbs 
(for the latter are so small they seem out of all proportion to the requirements), the wonder is, 
how can the creature climb from the water to the ice or cliffs. The stout tusks are very ser- 
viceable, doubtless, but they seem to our limited comprehension entirely in the way. It is . 
SEA ELEPHANT.— Cystophora proboscidea. 
difficult to see how the creature can feed with those ivory canines directed straight downwards. 
Nature never fails of its purposes, but there are instances of organization and structure that 
surprise us and baffle our comprehension. 
The Walrus is seen in vast herds at times, frequenting both polar seas. Two well-marked 
species are known, that of the Pacific coast differing in some particulars from that of the 
Atlantic. 
Another powerful and grotesque Seal now engages our attention. This is the Elephant 
Seal, or Sea Elephant, so called not only on account of the. strange prolongation of the 
nose, which bears some analogy to the proboscis of the elephant, but also on account of its 
elephantine size. Large specimens of this monstrous Seal measure as much as thirty feet in 
length, and fifteen or eighteen feet in circumference at the largest part of their bodies. 
The color of the Sea Elephant is rather variable, even in individuals of the same sex and 
age, but is generally as follows. The fur of the male is usually of a bluish -gray, which some- 
times deepens into dark brown, while that of the female is darker, and variegated with sundry 
dapplings of a yellow hue. This animal is an inhabitant of the southern hemisphere, and is 
