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