Animal products; . 284 THE SEA ELEPHANT. feet long, covered with reddish down, over which stiff grey hairprojected. They were especially hunted on the Falkland Islands,Terra del Fuego, New Georgia, South Shetland, and the coast ofChili. Three-and-a-half million of skins were taken from Masa-fuera to Canton between 1793 and 1807 (Dallas). The Sea Elephant (Macrorrhinus angustirostris, Phoca pro-boscidea, Peron) of California has only been well described since1866. The males have a sort of small trunk, but no tusks. Itsflesh is not only black, oily, and indigestible, but it is also almostimpossi
Animal products; . 284 THE SEA ELEPHANT. feet long, covered with reddish down, over which stiff grey hairprojected. They were especially hunted on the Falkland Islands,Terra del Fuego, New Georgia, South Shetland, and the coast ofChili. Three-and-a-half million of skins were taken from Masa-fuera to Canton between 1793 and 1807 (Dallas). The Sea Elephant (Macrorrhinus angustirostris, Phoca pro-boscidea, Peron) of California has only been well described since1866. The males have a sort of small trunk, but no tusks. Itsflesh is not only black, oily, and indigestible, but it is also almostimpossible to separate it from the lard. The tongues alonesupply really good aliment, and they are salted with care andesteemed in the market. The heart is sometimes eaten, but it ishard and indigestible; and with regard to the liver, which isesteemed in some seals, according Dr. Hamilton, it would appear,after repeated trials, to be walrus {Trichecus roswarus), showing the upper incisors in the FORM OF TUSKS. The Walrus or Sea-horse (Trichecus rosmarus, Rosmarusobesus) it has been well remarked, forms a connecting link be-tween the mammalia of the land and those of the water, corres-ponding in some of its characters both with the bullock and thewhale. It is often seen of the size of a great ox, and sometimesexceeds the dimensions of the gigantic elephant. The chase ofthe walrus in the Arctic regions is of great antiquity. They usedto congregate by thousands on the Magdalen Islands in the River THE WALRUS OR SEA HORSE. 285 St. Lawrence, but have long been driven far to the north, by theirpursuers. The economic products for which this animal is sought are itsflesh and its skin, its oil and teeth. Among the inhabitants ofthe Arctic regions its flesh is much valued and esteemed, and isgreedily eaten along with the lard, and even the skin. In ancient times most of the ropes in the vessels of northerncountries, appear
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