. The seals and whales of the British seas. st of themwithin the Arctic Sea. But to attain this result, between thirty and fortythousand animals ivere killed, so that only one-third of the number destroyedwere actually utilised. There can be no doubt as to the ultimate consequenceof such glaring imprudence ; but last year they were so painfully apparent asto touch even the hearts of those who occasioned them. Not that the whalerswere moved to compassion by the victims themselves, but by the sufferings ofthe human beings who were deprived of their chief souce of subsistence. The * Cooks Last Vo
. The seals and whales of the British seas. st of themwithin the Arctic Sea. But to attain this result, between thirty and fortythousand animals ivere killed, so that only one-third of the number destroyedwere actually utilised. There can be no doubt as to the ultimate consequenceof such glaring imprudence ; but last year they were so painfully apparent asto touch even the hearts of those who occasioned them. Not that the whalerswere moved to compassion by the victims themselves, but by the sufferings ofthe human beings who were deprived of their chief souce of subsistence. The * Cooks Last Voyage, vol. ii. p. 458, edition 1784. SEALS AND WHALES OF THE BRLTISH SEAS. 39 hardy tribes in the neighbourhood of Behring Strait hterally cannot existwithout the Walrus, and so long as they were its only human enemies thenumber destroyed was inconsiderable. But the herds soon dwindled underthe superior weapons and appliances of civilised nations, and the survivorsretreated, like the Whales, towards the Pole. By the end of last season, not. Fig. 9. Head of Walrus (Modified after Murie). a single Walrus was left on the coast, and the immediate result was such aterrible famine among the natives that the whalers themselves speak of itremorsefully. The population north of St. Lawrence Bay has been reducedby one-third ; and in a village which formerly contained 200 inhabitants, only 40 SEALS AND WHALES OF THE BRITLSH SEAS. one man survived. Several of the whalers have consequently refused to takeany part in future Walrus hunts on the coast; they assert that for everyhundred animals killed, a native family must perish by starvation, and theywill not incur so heavy a responsibility. About the month of August they repair to the shore, and congregatingin vast herds on the beach of some secluded bay, lie for weeks together in asemi-torpid condition, without moving or feeding. Should their retreat bediscovered whilst in this state, great is the slaughter. Mr. Lamont, in hisSeasons with th
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