THE STORY OF THE WALRUS. 
409 
get over the ground at a pace that, although not very rapid, is yet wonder¬ 
fully so when the size of the animal is taken into account. 
The movement is a mixture of jerks and leaps, and the walrus is further 
aided in its progress by the tusks. Should it be attacked, and its retreat 
cut off, the walrus advances fiercely upon its enemy, striking from side to 
side with its long tusks, and endeavoring to force a passage into the sea. If 
it should be successful in its attempt, it hurries to the water’s edge, lowers 
its head, and rolls unceremoniously into the sea, where it is in comparative 
safety. 
WALRUSES AND THEIR HABITS. 
The walrus is killed when on land or ice either by means of long lances, 
or with rifles; while when at sea it is chased with special boats and har¬ 
pooned. Enormous numbers of these animals were killed in the Magdalen 
Islands, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in the sixteenth and seventeenth cen¬ 
turies; but one instance of an enormous destruction of these animals may 
be referred to in greater detail. This occurred in the summer of 1882, on 
Thousand Island, lying off the southwest coast of Spitzbergen. Here two 
small sloops, sailing in company, approached the island, and soon discov- 
