Two or three of the leaders of the attacking party,—the foremost among whom was, I believe, Mr. William Jackson, afterwards a successful commander,—perceiving the risk of the vast herd escaping before they should have time for any considerable success in captures, boldly threw themselves betwixt the affrighted walruses and the sea, so as, to the extent their means of destruction might enable them, to cut off their retreat. And now it was that the _tail-knife_ was found to be a most admirable weapon for the occasion, its sharpness of point, and length of blade, yielding mortal results at almost every stroke, and its length of handle enabling its wielder to avoid the formidable tusks of the creature whilst attacking it close to hand. The result exceeded the most sanguine expectations of the assailants. Many wounded ones, I believe, escaped into the sea, but a famous slaughter and advantageous spoil rewarded the adventure. One hundred and thirty of these animals remained as trophies of the sailors’ victory, yielding, besides the corresponding quantity of hides, a large weight of tusks and teeth, adapted for dental purposes, and a quantity of oil, which, perhaps, we may roughly estimate at 1500 to 2000 gallons. FOOTNOTES: [M] This fact having been differently reported and understood, the reader who feels any interest in the subject may satisfy himself, I believe, of the reality by reference to an article in the “Edinburgh Philosophical Journal,” vol. xx. 1835-6, “On some Circumstances connected with the Original Suggestion of the Modern Arctic Expeditions.” [N] This estimate of profits, though exceeding those of the Resolution, already given, may be still maintained, on the ground of the price of provisions and the high rates of seamen’s wages and insurance, pertaining to a period, except as to one year, of continuous war. CHAPTER VI. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES. SECTION I.—_Superiority as an Arctic Navigator._ My Father’s superiority as a fisherman, as exhibited in the foregoing pages, had an essential relation to his talents as a seaman and a navigator. The former, indeed, was in no inconsiderable degree a fruit of the latter; for it was his superiority as a navigator of ice-encumbered seas particularly, which, for a considerable series of years, enabled him generally to obtain a position in advance of his competitors, and thus yielded to him the best opportunities, whilst the ground was undisturbed, for making his fishery. Not only, indeed, was he thus unrivalled among his associates in Arctic enterprise, but to him was due the introduction of a truly scientific system of arrangements, which, with their masterly application in practice, enabled him at all times, when “beating to windward” among crowded ices, or contending under the greatest obstructions and difficulties for a passage “to the northward,” to take the lead.