By adding to these observations of Zorgdrager those which are in the Collection of Voyages to the North, and what are scattered in other accounts, we have a tolerably complete history of this animal. By these relations we find that this species was formerly much more diffused than at present; they were found in the seas of the temperate zones, in the Gulph of Canada, on the coasts of Acadia, &c. but they are at present confined to the frozen zones, and even in those there are but few in any of those parts which are frequented. There are very few in the Frozen Seas of Europe, and still less in those of Greenland, Davis’s Straights, and other parts of North America, the whale fishery having disturbed and driven them away. Towards the end of the 16th century the inhabitants of St. Malo found them in great numbers in the Ramée islands; and it is not a hundred years since the merchants of Port-Royal thought it worth sending to Cape Sable and Cape Fourchu to hunt these animals, but they have now entirely forsaken those climates, and are only to be found in great numbers in the frozen sea of Asia, from the mouth of the Oby to the eastern point of that continent; they are seldom seen in the temperate, and those found in the torrid zone are of a different species; they seem averse from the southern seas, and therefore are not met with towards the south pole, although the great and small seals of the north are there in great plenty.
We find, however, that the walrus can live, at least for some time, in a temperate climate. Edward Worst speaks of having seen one alive in England, which was three months old; that it was put in water for a short time only each day, and that it went upon the ground. He does not say the heat of the air incommoded it, but, on the contrary, that when it was touched it had the appearance of a robust and furious animal, and that it had a very strong respiration through its nostrils. This young walrus was about the size of a calf, and very much like a seal. Its head was round, its eyes large, its nostrils flat and black, which it opened and shut at pleasure. It had no external ears, but only two auditory passages. The mouth was small, and the upper jaw was furnished with whiskers of thick, rough, and cartilaginous hairs; the lower jaw was triangular, the tongue thick and short, and each side of the mouth armed on the inside with flat teeth. The feet were broad, and the hind part of the body perfectly resembled that of a seal. It might be rather said to crawl with this hind part than to walk; the fore-feet were turned forward, and the hind ones backward; they were all divided into five toes, and covered with a strong membrane. The skin was thick, hard, and covered with a short, soft, ash-coloured hair. This animal grunted like a boar, and sometimes cried with a deep and strong voice. It was brought from Nova Zembla, and had not any tusks, but on the upper jaw there appeared two knobs, from whence in time they would arise. It was fed with a sort of gruel made of barley or oat-meal. It followed its master when he offered it food, but always with a seeming reluctance, as it grunted all the time, and would sometimes growl at him with a degree of fury.
This account, which gives a tolerably just idea of the walrus, evinces that it can live in a temperate climate; however there is no appearance of its being able to endure a strong heat, nor of its having ever passed from one pole to the other. Several travellers have spoken of certain sea-cows they saw in India, but those were of a different species. The walrus is easily distinguished by its long tusks, a character which we find peculiar to that and the elephant.
The genital member of the male has a large bone like the whale. The female brings forth in winter upon land, or on the shoals of ice, and seldom produces more than one, which when born is about the size of a hog of a year old. We do not know how long this animal goes with young, but if we judge by the time of their growth and size, we must suppose it to be upwards of nine months. The walrus cannot continue in the water for a long time together, but is obliged to come on shore to suckle its young, and for other occasions. When they are obliged to climb up steep shores, or large pieces of ice, they make use of their teeth and hands to hold by, and drag along the heavy masses of their bodies. They are said to feed upon the shell-fish which are at the bottom of the sea, and to grub them up with their strong tusks. Others assert that they live on a sea-herb with broad leaves, and that they eat neither flesh nor fish. But I imagine all these opinions have but a weak foundation, it being probable that the walrus, like the seal, lives on prey, especially on herrings, and other small fish, for he does not eat at all when upon land, and it is chiefly hunger which obliges him to return to the sea.
THE Dugon is an animal which inhabits the African and Indian seas. We have only seen two heads on this subject, which resembled that of the walrus more than any other animal. It had, like that, very deep sockets for the teeth, about the length of half a foot, which might more properly be termed cutting teeth than tusks. They extend not in a direct manner from the mouth, like those of the walrus, but are much shorter and thinner, besides they are situated close to each other in the fore part of the jaw, whereas the tusks of the walrus leave a considerable space between them, and are placed at the side of the upper jaw. The grinders of the dugon likewise differ in number, shape and position, from those of the walrus, therefore we make not the least doubt but they are animals of different species. Some travellers have confounded the dugon with the sea-lion. Inigo de Biervillas says, that a sea-lion was killed near the Cape of Good Hope, which measured ten feet in length, and four in circumference. Its head was like that of a calf about a year old; it had a bristly beard; its eyes large and frightful; its ears short, its feet very broad, and its legs so exceedingly short, that its belly dragged upon the ground: he adds, that it had two tusks about half a foot long. This last, however, does not agree with the sea-lion, which has no tusks, but teeth nearly resembling those of the seal; and this difference made me imagine it was not a sea-lion but the animal we call the dugon. Other travellers seem to have indicated it by the name of the sea-bear: Spilsberg and Mandelso relate, "that there are animals on the island of St. Elizabeth, on the coast of Africa, which should rather be denominated sea-bears than sea-wolves, as their hair, colour, and head, greatly resemble those of that animal, the snout only being more pointed; that they also move like the bear, except dragging their hind legs after them; that these amphibious animals have a frightful appearance, and do not shew any fear at the sight of man: their teeth are so very strong as to bite through the shaft of a javelin; and although their hind legs appear crippled, yet they move with such swiftness that it is very difficult to come up with them." Le Guat speaks of having seen a sea-cow, of a reddish colour, near the Cape of Good Hope; its body was round and thick, its eyes full and large, long tusks, and its muzzle was turned a little upwards. A sailor assured him that this animal, of which he only saw the fore part of its body, the rest being in the water, had feet. This sea-cow of le Guat’s, the sea-bear of Spilsberg, and the sea-lion of Biervillas, seem to be the same animal as the dugon, the head of which was sent us from the isle of France, and which, consequently, is to be met with in the southern seas, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Philippine islands: as for the rest we cannot affirm that this animal, which resembles the walrus by its head and tusks, has, like that, four feet. We only presume from analogy, and the testimony of travellers, that they have those members; but as the analogy is not very great, nor the testimonies of travellers sufficiently precise to decide this point, we shall suspend our judgment thereon till we are able to obtain better information.