By seven o'clock in the evening, we had received, on board the Resolution, nine of these animals, which, till now, we had supposed to be sea-cows; so that we were not a little disappointed, especially some of the seamen, who, for the novelty of the thing, had been feasting their eyes for some days past. Nor would they have been disappointed now, nor have known the difference, if we had not happened to have one or two on board, who had been in Greenland, and declared what animals these were, and that no one ever eat of them. But, notwithstanding this, we lived upon them as long as they lasted; and there were few on board who did not prefer them to our salt meat.
The fat; at first, is as sweet as marrow; but in a few days it grows rancid, unless it be salted, in which state it will keep much longer. The lean flesh is coarse, black, and has rather a strong taste; and the heart is nearly as well tasted as that of a bullock. The fat, when melted, yields a good deal of oil, which burns very well in lamps; and their hides, which are very thick, were very useful about our rigging. The teeth or tusks of most of them were, at this time, very small; even some of the largest and oldest of these animals had them not exceeding six inches in length. From this we concluded, that they had lately shed their old teeth.
They lie, in herds of many hundreds, upon the ice, huddling one over the other like swine, and roar or bray very loud, so that, in the night or in foggy weather, they gave us notice of the vicinity of the ice before we could see it. We never found the whole herd asleep, some being always upon the watch. These, on the approach of the boat, would wake those next to them, and the alarm being thus gradually communicated, the whole herd would be awake presently. But they were seldom in a hurry to get away, till after they had once been fired at. Then they would tumble one over the other, into the sea, in the utmost confusion. And if we did not, at the first discharge, kill those we fired at, we generally lost them, though mortally wounded. They did not appear to us to be that dangerous animal some authors have described, not even when attacked. They are rather more so to appearance than in reality. Vast numbers of them would follow, and come close up to the boats. But the flash of a musket in the pan, or even the bare pointing of one at them, would send them down in an instant. The female will defend the young one to the very last, and at the expense of her own life, whether in the water, or upon the ice. Nor will the young one quit the dam, though she be dead; so that, if you kill one, you are sure of the other. The dam, when in the water, holds the young one between her fore-fins.
Mr Pennant, in his Synopsis Quadr. p. 835,[2] has given a very good description of this animal under the name of Arctic Walrus, but I have no where seen a good drawing of one. Why they should be called sea-horses is hard to say, unless the word be a corruption of the Russian name Morse, for they have not the least resemblance of a horse. This is, without doubt, the same animal that is found in the Gulf of St Laurence, and there called Sea-cow. It is certainly more like a cow than a horse; but this likeness consists in nothing but the snout. In short, it is an animal like a seal, but incomparably larger. The dimensions and weight of one, which was none of the largest, were as follows:—
| Feet. | Inches. | ||
| Length from the snout to the tail | 9 | 4 | |
| Length of the neck, from the snout to the | |||
| shoulder-bone | 2 | 6 | |
| Height of the shoulder | 5 | 0 | |
| Length of the fins | Fore | 2 | 4 |
| Hind | 2 | 6 | |
| Breadth of the fins | Fore | 1 | 2-1/2 |
| Hind | 2 | 0 | |
| Snout | Breadth | 0 | 5-1/2 |
| Depth | 1 | 3 | |
| Circumference of the neck close to the ears | 2 | 7 | |
| Circumference of the body at the shoulder | 7 | 10 | |
| Circumference near the hind fins | 5 | 6 | |
| From the snout to the eyes | 0 | 7 |
| lbs. | |
| Weight of the carcase, without | |
| the head, skin, or entrails | 854 |
| Head | 41-1/2 |
| Skin | 205 |
I could not find out what these animals feed upon. There was nothing in the maws of those we killed.
It is worth observing, that for some days before this date, we had frequently seen flocks of ducks flying to the southward. They were of two sorts, the one much larger than the other, the largest were of a brown colour; and, of the small sort, either the duck or drake was black and white, and the other brown. Some said they saw geese also. Does not this indicate that there must be land to the north, where these birds find shelter, in the proper season, to breed, and from whence they were now returning to a warmer climate?
By the time that we had got our sea-horses on board, we were, in a manner, surrounded with the ice, and had no way left to clear it, but by standing to the southward, which was done till three o'clock next morning, with a gentle breeze westerly, and for the most part, thick, foggy weather. The soundings were from twelve to fifteen fathoms. We then tacked, and stood to the north till ten o'clock, when the wind veering to the northward, we directed our course to the S.W. and W. At two in the afternoon, we fell in with the main ice, along the edge of which we kept, being partly directed by the roaring of the sea-horses, for we had a very thick fog. Thus we continued sailing till near midnight, when we got in amongst the loose ice, and heard the surge of the sea upon the main ice.