Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1856-12-18
From Kane's Arctic Explorations.
WALRUS HUNTING.

ESqulmauX to catch WalruS:
1.-The party which Morton attended upon
their walrus hunt had three sledges One
was to be taken to cache in the ne ghbor-
hood; the other two dragged at a quick run
toward the open water, about ten miles off
to the South west. They had but nine dogs
to these two sledges, one man only riding,
the others running by turns. AS they near
ed the new ice, and where the black wastes
Of mingled cloud and water betokened the
open sea, they would from time to time re-
move their hoods and listen intently for the
animals voice.
'After while the Myouk became con-
vinced from signs or sounds, or both, for
they were inappreciable by Morton, that the
walrus were waiting for him in small space
of recently open water that was glazed over
with few days growth of ice; and moving
gently on, they soon heard the characteris-
tic below of bull awuk. The walrus,
like some of the higher order of beings to
which he has been compared, is fond of his
own music, and will lie for hours listening
to himself His vocalization is something
between the mooing of a COW and the deep
est baying of a mastiff; very round and full,
with it's barks or detached notes repeated
rather quickly, seven to nire times in sue
cession.
1.-The party now formed in single file, fol-
lowing in each others steps; and guided by
an admirable knowledge of ice topography,
wound behind hummocks and ridges in a
serpentine approach toward group Of pond
like discolorations, recently frozen ice-spots,
but surrounded by firmer and older ice
"When within half mile of these, the
line broke, and each man crawled towards
a separate pool; Morton on his hands and
knees following Myouk. In a few minutes
the walrus were in sight They were five
in number, rising at intervals through the
ice in body, and breaking it up with an
explosive puff that might have been heard
for miles. Two large grim looking males
were conspicuous as the leaders of the group.
Now for the marvel of the craft. When
the walrus is above the water, the hunter is
fat and motionless; as he begins to sink,
alert and ready for spring. The animals
head is hardly below the water-line before
by instinct j. II btJfs Hqna ts gp and asan
are motionless behind protecting knolls of
ice They seem to know beforehand not
only the time he will be absent, but the very
spot at which he will reappear. In this
way hiding and advancing by turns, Myouk,
with Morton at his heels, has reached plate
of thin ice hardly strong enough to bare
them, at the very brink of the waterproof
the walrus are curveting in.
"Myouk, till now phlegmatic, seems to
waken with excitement. His coil of walrus
hide, a well trimmed line of many fathoms'
length, is lying at his side. He fixes one
end of it in an iron barb, and fastens this
loosely by a socket upon shaft of unicorn's
horn; the other end is already looped, or,
as sailor would say, doubled in a blight
1t is the work of moment. He has grasp
ed the harpoon: the water is in notion
Putting with respiration, the walrus is with
in couple of fathoms, close before him
Myouk rises slowly, his right arm thrown
back, the left fiat at his side. The walrus
looks about him, shaking the water from
his crest: Myouk throws up his left arm !;
and the animal, rising breast-high, fixes
one look before he plunges. 1t has cost
him all that curiosity can cost the harpoon
is buried under his left fipper.
"Though awuk is down in a moment,
Myouk is running at desperate speed from
the scene of his victory, paying off his coil
freely, but clutching the end by its loop
seizes as he runs a small stick of bone, rude
ly pointed with iron, and by sudden move
ment drives it into the ice; to this he Sc
cures his line, pressing it down close to the
ice service with his feet.
"Now comes the struggle. The hole is
dashed in mad commotion with the strug-
giles Of the wounded beast; the line is drawn
! tight at one moment, the next relaxed the
hunter has not left his station There is a
crack of the ice; and rearing up through il
are two walrusses, not many yards from
where he stands. One of them, the male
is excited, and seemingly terrified; the 9TH
er, the female, collected and vengeful.-
Down they 60 again, after one grim survey
of the field and OH the instant Myouk has
changed his position, carrying his coil with
him, and fixing it anew.
'sHe has hardly fixed it before the pair
have again risen, and breaking up an area
of ten feet diameter about the very spot he
left. AS they sank once more he again
changes his place and 50 the conflict goes on
between address and force, till the victim,
half exhausted, receives a second wound
and is played like trout by the anglers
reel.
ssThe instinct of attack which character
ICES the walrus is as interesting to the natu-
ralist as it is characteristic also of the land
animals, the pachyderms. with which he is
classed. When wounded he rises high out
of the water, plunging heavily against the
ice, and strives to raise himself with his fore
hippers upon its surface, As it breaks un-