THE VICTORY. 
417 
in foaming circles, seeking fresh victims in that part of 
the sea which was discolored by his blood. 
Some idea may be formed of the ferocity of the wal¬ 
rus, from the fact that the battle which Morton wit¬ 
nessed, not without sharing some of its danger, lasted 
four hours; during which the animal rushed con¬ 
tinually at the Esquimaux as they approached, tearing 
off great tables of ice with his tusks, and showing no 
indications of fear Avhatever. He received upward 
of seventy lance-wounds,—Morton counted over sixty; 
and even then he remained hooked by his tusks to 
the margin of the ice, unable or unwilling to retire. 
Ilis female fought in the same manner, but fled on 
receiving a lance-wound. 
The Esquimaux seemed to be fully aware of the 
danger of venturing too near; for at the first onset 
of the walrus they jumped back far enough to be clear 
of the broken ice. Morton described the last three 
hours as wearing, on both sides, the aspect of an un¬ 
broken and seemingly doubtful combat. 
The method of landing the beast upon the ice, too, 
showed a great deal of clever contrivance. They made 
two pair of incisions in the neck, where the hide is very 
thick, about six inches apart and parallel to each other, 
so as to form a couple of bands. A line of cut hide, 
about a quarter of an inch in diameter, was passed 
under one of these bands and carried up on the ice to a 
firm stick well secured in the floe, where it went through 
a loop, and was then taken back to the animal, made 
to pass under the second band, and led off to the 
Vol. I.—27 
