It should be noted that all these creatures are carnivorous, yet the supply of food for them never seems to fail, as undoubtedly it would were the animals dependent for their food on land.
The distinguishing features of the walrus have been mentioned in the introductory remarks to this chapter. It should be added that it has an external ear-passage, though no external ears, and very thick and bristly whiskers. It is practically confined to the Arctic Circle, though once its range extended to the British coasts (where its bones are found in the Suffolk Crag) and to Virginia. The skull of one was found in the peat at Ely--evidence that it once ascended rivers.
[Illustration: _By permission of the Hon. Walter Rothschild_] [_Tring._
The "tusks" of the walrus are put to many practical uses during life, and after death are much valued for the ivory.]
The walrus stands alone; it is a real monster of the deep. Strange and awful stories were told of it by some of the early voyagers to the Arctic Seas; but Captain Cook gave a very different account of his impressions of the walruses which he saw on the north coast of America: "They lie in herds of many hundreds on the ice, huddling over one another like swine. (They lie just like a lot of pigs in a yard.) They roar and bray so very loud, that in the night, or in foggy weather, they gave us notice of the vicinity of the ice before we could see it. We never found the whole herd asleep, some being always on the watch. These, on the approach of the boat, would awaken those next to them; and the alarm being thus gradually communicated, the whole herd would awake presently. But they were seldom in a hurry to get away, till after they had been once fired at; they then would tumble over one another into the sea in the utmost confusion. They did not appear to us to be that dangerous animal which authors have described, not even when attacked. Vast numbers of them would follow us, and come close up to the boats; but the flash of the musket in the pan, or the bare pointing of it, would send them down in an instant. The female will defend her young to the last, and at the expense 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 one be killed the other is certain prey." The long pendent tusks, bristly whiskers, small bloodshot eyes, and great size lent colour to the terrifying tales of the walrus. But more ancient voyagers than Captain Cook told the truth--that the "morses," as they called them, were harmless creatures, which often followed the ships from sheer curiosity. They sleep on the ice like elephantine pigs, and dive and rout on the sea-bottom for clams, cuttle-fish, and seaweeds. Probably the long tusks are used to rake up mussels and clams; they also help the walrus to climb on to the ice. A young walrus was kept for some time by the members of the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition, and was found to be an amusing pet. One kept on board a Dundee whaler used to sleep with an Eskimo dog, and got into the same kennel with it. It ate blubber and salt pork, but liked the sailors' pea-soup better than anything else; it was most sociable, and could not bear to be alone--would tumble down the hatchway to seek the society of its beloved sailors, and scramble into the cabin if the door were open. When it fell ill and before it died, it seemed most grateful for any attention shown to it. The parent walrus shows the greatest courage in trying to defend the young one. Walruses are now scarce; but as the ivory is the only part of them of much present value, there is a chance that they may not be killed off entirely.