THE WALRUS, MORSE, OR SEA-COW.
(Trichechus Rosmarus.)
This very curious animal is nearly allied to the Seal, but is of much greater size, being frequently eighteen feet in length, and from ten to twelve feet in girth. The head is round, the eyes are small and brilliant, and the upper lip, which is enormously thick, is covered with pellucid bristles, as large as a straw. The nostrils are very large, and there are no external ears. The most remarkable part of the Walrus is, however, his two large tusks in the upper jaw; they are inverted, the points nearly uniting, and sometimes exceed twenty-four inches in length! the use which the animal makes of them is not easily explained, unless they help him to climb up the rocks and mountains of ice among which he takes up his abode, as the parrot employs his beak to get upon his perch. The tusks of the Walrus are superior in durability and whiteness to those of the elephant, and, as they keep their colour much longer, are preferred by dentists to any other substance for making artificial teeth.
The Walrus is common in some of the northern seas, and will sometimes attack a boat full of men. They are gregarious animals, usually found in herds of from fifty to one hundred or more, sleeping and snoring on the icy shores; but when alarmed they precipitate themselves into the water with great bustle and trepidation, and swim with such rapidity, that it is difficult to overtake them with a boat. One of their number always keeps watch while the others sleep. They feed on shell-fish and sea-weeds, and yield an oil equal in goodness to that of the whale. The white bear is their greatest enemy. In the combats between these animals, the Walrus is said to be generally victorious, on account of the desperate wounds it inflicts with its tusks. The females have only one young one at a time, which, when born, resembles a good-sized pig.
