The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1877-11-10
Our 0liu.



The walrus is aelect and aristocratic
beast, inasmuch as he is tho sole represen-
tative Of the genus Trichecas, and has no
plebeian relatives in the shape Of subgenera
and species to wound his family pride.
He is found throughout the whole arctic
zone, as far as it has been explored, but
he is chiefly hunted in the neighborhood
Of Nova Hembla and Spitzbcrgcn, where
the submarine banks. which he delights to
rake for the molluskA on which he feeds,
lie comparatively near the surface Of the
water, He is not graceful nor pleasing
beast in appearance, since he somewhat
resembles an enormous pig, with coarse
whiskerS, pair Of huge tusks depending
from the upper jaw, flippers instead of
legs, and no tail whatever. A full-grown
walras weighs from $500 to 1000 pounds,
and his skin, blubber and tusks constitute
his attractions in the eyes Of the hunter.
Mr.. james Lamont, British yachts
man, who has enjoyed great deal Of
acute and satisfactory misery in hunting
the walrus and other arctic animals, holds
that the polar bearis the progenitor of the
walrus. He supposes that, ages ago, en-
terprising bears became addicted to she'll
fish hunting in shallow water. BY con
stautly raking the mud with their teeth,
and thus catching and swallowing she'll
fish without wasting time by picking them
up with their claws, they gradually devel
oped a pair Of upper canine teeth of enor-
nous size. As their manner Of life ohlig-
ed the bears to spend most Of their time
10 swimming, they wisely laid aside their
legs and substituted aippers, at the same
time abandoning the purely foppish habit
of wearing an entirely useless tail. Thus,
in Mr.. Lamont's opinion, the walrus is
merely an improved polar bear, fitted with
the necessary apparatus for successfully
hunting shell-fsh. That the rest of the
bears still cling to their ursine peculiari-
ties is, of course, due to their stupid con
serEatism, and there is really no excuse to
be made for them.
This ingenious genesis Of the walrus is
not, however, to be accepted as a demon
strated fact. Mr. Lamont himself pro.
poses it only in the guise Of plausible
hypothesis. Every man has an inaliena.
bio right to make all sorts of hypothesis,
and those who do not agree with Mr. La
mont have no right to call him hard names,
MS he is inclined to think they will. Less
excusable is the conduct Of that eminent
naturalist whose name will be forever as
sociated with his discovery Of those sur
prising beasts, the slithytovc, the nome
rath, and the jabberwock. lie has i'm
pliedly asserted that the walrus cherishes
fondness for carpenters, in whose COM
pany he is accustomed TO walk along the
beach, looking for oysters, and discussing
the comparative merit Of cabbages and
kings. Il is sufficient to say that not
single well-authenticated case of the kind
bas ever been reported, and it is in the
highest degree improbable that the walrus.
would engage in argument concerning a
vegetable like the cabbage, of the very
existence Of which he is in profound ig-
norance.
Though the walrus occasionally makes
long voyages on cakes of floating ice, and
has even been known to reach by this
means the coast Of Scotland, such journeys
are never voluntarily undertaken. As he
cannot dive to any great depth, and as he
seeks his food on the bottom Of the sea,
ho is compelled to remain where the water
is shallow. There is reason to suppose
that the walrus is more abundant in higher
ATTITUDES than he is in the lower parallels
where the hunters now seek him. Ma
ture, in her manufactures at the north
pole, is constantly turning out vast guam
titles Of ice and walruses, which are car
ricd by the arctic currents to regions where
the vessels of the wnlrus hunters cannot
penetrate. II is certain that the walrus is
gradually abandoning his most sOutherly
haunts and retreating uOrthward before
the attacks Of his enemies. Formerly he
frequentcd the Shetland Islands and the
whole extent Of the Norway coast, but at
present he cannot be hunted with much
success below the seveniieth parallel
Haspr's Magasine.