New-York tribune., 1911-01-08
SUNDAY MAGAZINE FOR JANUARY 8. 1911

gripping a fat, convusve salmon in its Jaws. Is in
Sheer wantonness of destruction, the shining fish would
be bitten clean in two mouthful guped, and the
bleeding fragments dropped into the water. hen the
riotous fisherman would plunge for new prey.
1t was a bad hour for the salmon. Along the nearer
shore of the estuary prowled certain eiSurey white
bears which would plunge into the thronged tide pick
out their prizes and carry them ashore TO be dcvoured
at But the hordes Of salmon, urged on by mex
orable desire Swerved or halted AND their num-
bers were so ncalcuable that not all the assaults ot
seal and bear combined seemed to diminish them IN
the least.
In the exuberance Of his play with the salmon the big
seal Chanced to trepaSS on the none too amaDe rpoe
OF a strange looking creature which was rolling slug.
gishly from side to side on the muddy bottom. This
beast of pale corpSeike color and some twelve fee m
length, suggested some past msallance between UNI
and porpoise From the middle Of its huge blunt
Snout protruded, to length OF fully six feet massive
kcenlv pointed curiOuSy twisted tusk OF hardest ivory
Its cold little pglike eyes regarded indferenty the
myriads Of salmon passing aboveit, because Tor the
time, its giant appetite was sated with salmon
The water of the estuary at this point was not more
than ten twelve feet deep; and it CHANGED that the
big seal in OF his reckless pungeS, slapped the mar
whal rdey the snout with his hind fppers. Pos
Sblv the narwha at that moment was suffering from
incipient indigestion. His temper was certainly light
on the trigger In sudden fury he darted upward The
seal of the OF his eye the rise OF that pale
bulk though it almost imperceptlbe IN the turmd
water. He writhed aside, doubling upon himself Ike an
eel And he was barely in time. That fine lance IVORY
missed indeed, his vtalS; but it powed a red cash mp
his side lust behind the fore fippcr.
With the ferocity OF his rush. the narWlal Shoi HN
tusk and half his body out Of the water The seal in =
rage at the attack darted him he came down ana
sashed him Savagely across the pgIke eye. hen,
realizing perhaps, that his aSsaants armor OF bubbcr
was too thick for his teeth 10 DO much with he gded OF
and was lost among the salmon while the narwhal sank
back heavily to his interrupted digestion OF the mud.
TT was an almost windcSS morning under pale, low
SUM- when the big seal came to that particular island
of the Pribiof group which he had been holding IN hs
minds eve all through the nOrthward Journey The
coast nav the whole island was barren and bleak beyond
dcpiction but the point where the seal founder.
ashore and pre6mptcd his claim had certain advantage
which his kind quick appreciate. Not halt mile
off shore lay another fiat island, long and narrow, which
served as breakwater against the heavy seas Of The
open. Moreover in the channel between there were a
WAYS plenty of fish, and the deep water came right up
the lip of the ledge which he had established him>,
As he landed, he followed at all along ,.c
wide of the ledge, by the throngS OF his fellow
travellers And instantly the polar stiffness, which had
been breathlesS as death was shattered with harsh
barking and gruntng yes, as the new arrival,
wrangled Savagely over their holdings
Here the big bull made himself Immediately al home,
his roof the sky, his house walls the four winds his floor
a gently Slopng space of rock that not the madt.rt
Arctic storm would be able 10 lar How dc,irah,
holding he had taken up was promptly proved Z" hmm.