The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1879-02-19
TEE W .AEIEsg!S.

subgenera and species to wound
his family price. He is found
throughout the whole Arctic Zone,
rs lar as ii has been explored, but
he is chiefly hunted in the neigh
borhond Of Nova Zembla and
Spitzbergon, where the submarine
banks, whi:h he delights to rake
for the molusks on which he
feeds, lie comparatively near the
surface Of the water. He is not
graceful nor pleasing beast in ap-
pcarance, since ne somewhat re-
sembles an enormous pig, with
coarse whiskers, pair OF huge
tusks depending from the upper
jaw, fippcrs instead Of legs, and
no tail whatever. \ full-grown
walrus weighs from $500 to 5000
pounds, and his skin, bIubber and
tusiis constitute his attractions in
the eyes Of the hunter.
Mr.. James Lamont, q British
yachtsman, who has enjoyed a
great deal Of acute and satisfac
tory misery in hunting the waIrus
and other arctic animals, holds
that the polar bear is the progenl-
tor Of the waIrus. lie supposes
that, ages ago, cnterpri$ing bears
became addicted TO shell. fish hunt:
Ing in shallow water. By CON
stant?y' laking Tie mud with their
teeth, ana thus catching and swa!-
lowing shell fish without wasting
time by picking them up with
their claws, they gradually dcvel-
opcd pair Of upper canine teeth
Of enormous size. As their man
nor Of life Obliged the bears to
spend most Of their time in swim
ming, they wisely laid aside their
legs and substituted fippers, at
the same time abandoning the
purely foppish habit of wearing an
eDtire!y useless tail. Thus, in Mr..
Lannon'S opinion, the walrus is
merely all improved polar bear,
fitted with the necessary apparatus
for successfully hunting shell I-fsh.
That the rest Of the bears still
cling to their ursine peculiarities
is, Of course, due to their stupid
conservatism, and there is really
no excuse 10 be made for them.
This il genious genesis of the
walrus is not, however, to be &C
cepted as a demonstrated fact.
Mr.. Lamont himself proposes it
only in the guise Of a plausible
hypothesis. Every man has an
inaIienabie right 10 make all sorts
Of hypothesis, aud those who Go
not agree with Mr. Lamont have
no right 10 call him hard names,
as be is inclined to think they
will. Less cXcusab!v is the con-
duct of that eminent naturalist
whose name will be forever asso
ciated with bis discovery of those
surprising beasts, the slithytoVe,
the momcrath, and the jabber-
wock. lie has implicitly asserted
| that the Wulrus cherishes q fond
ness for carpenters, in whose COM
pany he is accustomed to walk
along the beach, looking for oys-
ters, and discussing the compal a
tive merit ofcabbagos and kings.
1t is sufficient to say that not a
single we'll authenticated case of
this kind has ever been reported,
and it is in the highest degree i'm
probable that the walrus would
engage in argument concerning a
vegetable like the cabbage, Of the
existence Of which he is in pro-
| found ignorance.
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 rs he seeks his food on
| the bottom of the sea, he is com
PEELED to remain where the water is
shallow. There is reason to sup
pose that the walrus is more
abundant in higher latitudes 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 quantities Of ice and wal
ruses, which are carried by the
arctic currents to regions where
bo ooocaio nH "A ,ro 1rpc bn, a,c