The new enterprise. (Madison, Fla.) 1901-1908, 1904-10-06

lll nllIl Kipling calls the latter is
@g9l ugly and uucouth enough
tH.f to be one Of the very same
family as the dugong,. although IN
truth he is nothing Of the sort, But at
the outset I feel impelled to enter
stern protest against the. gross libel
upon that beautiful animal, the horse.
perpetrated by calling the walrus
sea horse and the hippopotanius a river
horse. What in the name Of common
sense have either of these most ungan-
ly brutes in common with one Of the
most elegant and beautiful Of all
known animals? Not that l would
rashly call any Of the Creators won
derful designs ugly-I do but speak
after the manner Of men. But there
does appear to me to be such an utter
lack of similarity in the comforting OF
titles such as the foregoing, Nor is the
manatee any more like a cow, still
there is not quite the same jar to our
senslbilities in the comparison, since
the COW is not what one would truth
fully describe as graceful, either in
outline or movement
Perhaps of all land-walking animals,
none, not even the MyrmecopEagus,
can compete with the walrus for clum-
siness. He has a gigantic body, in the
fullest grown adult about a ton in
weight, and about as unsymmetrical
as q leathern bag Of oil or the body
of hippopotamus. 1t is covered with
a tough, gnarled hide, scantily clothed
with coarse, brown hair, very patcby;
in fact, not at all unlike one of those
old hair trunks we used to see occa-
slonally. The forelegs are very short,
and the hand-like feet are planted
fat at almost right angles to the body,
while the hind feet have practically no
legs to them, being apparently just an
ornamental appendage to the body Of
/ lieu Of a tail. Consequently, he who
can watch the progress of a walrus
over land or fee and not laugh must
be quite devoid of humor or any sense
thereof, for it is certainly one Of the
most droll-looiing methods of progress
sion imaginable. But as DR.. johnson
is reported to have said Of the dancing
dog, the wonder is not that he should
perform so strangely, but that he
should perform at all. For the body
in the adult win weigh nearly a ton,
and the road over which the creature
ordinarily travels is one Of the most
rugged or slippery imaginable, a foe
with surface like a mirror, or a mass
Of rough hummocks, where the ice has
been broken up by the sea and coming
together again has conglomerated and
CONCEALED in the most fantastic shapes.
CONFORMATION OF THE WAL.
RUS.
At the upper extremity of this oblong
mass of flesh is the head. ludcrously
small as compared with the body. II
looks almost as If the body had sud.
denly tapered to n slightly elongated
point. And where one naturally looks
for the brain, at the top of the skull,
there is apparently no room for one
only n fat, solid-looking mass Of bone
The skull, however is abnormally pow.
erful, as It need be, for depending from
1t at right angles are the characteristic
tusks like a pair of pickaSes. With
these the walrus, suddenly rising from
the bottom, hooks on to an ice foe
and with an almost incredible exhibit.
ton Of strength, hauls himself IN out
of the water and into the berth he has
selected for his sunbatb or doze. With
the same tusks, too, he digs in the sea.
bed for his food, which is principally
shellhsh, although he does not disdain
the offal Of dead whale, or indeed
anything of an animal nature, so long
as it does not involve the chase of the
object. Pusuit is not at all in the
program of the walrus except under
certain circumstances, to be alluded
TO presently. The stomach of walrus
that l once examined caught on a
foe in Boring Stralts) looked like the
contents Of an oyster drcgde lust
hauled up. Curious sheldsh Of mary
Kinds, and in several cases alive,
stones, sane, mud shrimps, worms and
other things; 1t was a queer collection.
Yet 1t seemed, If such was his regular
diet-and | have no reason to suppose
that that it was 2ot-to have suited
the walrus very well indeed, for he
was so fat that out OF his wounds ez-
uded almost as much oil as blood.
As'might be supposed f7ca the M
ture Of It's food. the walrrs Is a gentle
ard iaoCcns.ve creature. Zero again
a sense Of extreme inconcruity is
aroused IN one at the sight Of a moro
suddenly popping ~ from under TIE
sea- Its appearance is savage in the
e-trcnc-ao painted InGian ever src-
ceedcd n making hirl:clf look moro
demonstrating than the waIrus, and