. The game birds and wild fowl of Sweden and Norway; with an account of the seals and salt-water fishes of those countries .. . y Water.—How Harpooned.•—Daring of the Harpooner. — The Ca])taiiis Experience—Valueof the Wah-iis. ^pHE Walrus, Sea Horse, or Morse {Sralross, Sw.;-■- -Roswf/r, Norw.; J/ors/^, Lapp.; Trichechtts Eosmarits,Linn.), has found a place in the Scandinavian at the present day this animal is very rarelyseen on the coasts of the Peninsula, yet in olden times itAvould almost seem to have been a resident, or at least apretty constant visitant, there being good re
. The game birds and wild fowl of Sweden and Norway; with an account of the seals and salt-water fishes of those countries .. . y Water.—How Harpooned.•—Daring of the Harpooner. — The Ca])taiiis Experience—Valueof the Wah-iis. ^pHE Walrus, Sea Horse, or Morse {Sralross, Sw.;-■- -Roswf/r, Norw.; J/ors/^, Lapp.; Trichechtts Eosmarits,Linn.), has found a place in the Scandinavian at the present day this animal is very rarelyseen on the coasts of the Peninsula, yet in olden times itAvould almost seem to have been a resident, or at least apretty constant visitant, there being good reason to believeit Avas regularly hunted by the ancient Northmen for itsskin and tusks, the value of which were perfectly wellunderstood even in their day. The proper home of the walrus is the Polar regions,where it is found almost everywhei-e; not, it is true, inthe same abundance as formei-ly, war to the kuife having for centuries been carried on against it, but stillin considerable numbers. In southern latitudes it isseldom observed, and the instances are few and farbetween of its visiting the British THE WALRUS. 445 Scientifically to describe so well-known an animal asthe walrus would be waste of time, the rather as it isso well depicted in the annexed drawing ; but it may beproper to state that its usual length is from twelve tofifteen feet. At times, according to Baron Cuvier andothers, it attains not far from twenty ; and the girth of itshuge body is nearly as much. Some specimens seen hyCaptain ]\IClure were estimated by him to weigh 35 colour varies greatly. According to Fabricius, theyoung are black ; they then become brown, and graduallypaler, till in old age they are quite white. Wbat withthe relatively small head of the creature, its thick muzzle,and its formidable tusks pointing downwards, it hasaltogether a most strange ajopearance. When walruses w^ere near the boat, says ProfessorB. M. Keilhau, of Christiania, who visited Cherry Island
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksu, booksubjectmarineanimals
