Oil the Mammoth and the Mastodon, 385 



ScliumacliofF, a Tungusian hunter and collector of fossil ivory, 

 who had migrated in 1V99 to the peninsula ofTamut, at the mouth 

 of the River Lena, one day perceived amongst the blocks of ice a 

 shapeless mass, not at all resembling the large pieces of floating 

 wood which are commonly found there. To observe it nearer, he 

 landed, climbed up a rock, and examined this new object on all 

 sides, but without being able to discover what it was. The follow- 

 ing year he perceived that the mass was more disengaged from 

 the blocks of ice, and had two projecting parts. Towards the end 

 of the next year (1801,) the entire side of the animal, and one of 

 its tusks, were quite free from the ice. On his return to the bor- 

 ders of the Lake Oncoul, he communicated this extraordinary dis- 

 covery to his wife and some of his friends, but their reception of 

 the news filled him with grief. The old men related how they 

 had heard their fathers say that a similar monster had been for- 

 merly discovered on the same peninsula, and that all the family of 

 the person who discovered it had died soon afterwards. The mam- 

 moth was consequently regarded as an augury of future calamity, 

 and the Tungusian was so much alarmed that he fell seriously ill ; 

 but becoming convalescent, his first idea was the profit he might 

 obtain by selling the tusks of the animal, which were of extraordi- 

 nary size and beauty. The summer of 1802 was less warm and 

 more stormy than usual, and the icy shroud of the mammoth had 

 scarcely melted at all. At length, towards the end of the fifth 

 year (1803,) the desires of the Tungusian were fulfilled; for, the 

 part of the ice between the earth and the mammoth having mel- 

 ted more rapidly than the rest, the plane of its support became 

 inclined, and the enormous mass fell by its own weight on a bank 

 of sand. Of this, two Tungusians, who accompanied Mr. Adams, 

 were witnesses. In the month of March, 1804, SchumachoflT came 

 to his mammoth, and having cut of the tusks, exchanged them 

 with a merchant, called Bultunoff", for goods of the value of fifty 

 rubles. 



Two years afterwards, or the seventh after the discovery of the 

 mammoth, Mr. Adams visited the spot, and " found the mammoth 

 still in the same place, but altogether mutilated. The prejudices 

 being dissipated because the Tungusian Chief had recovered his 

 health, there was no obstacle to prevent approach to the carcass 

 of the mammoth ; the proprietor was content with his profit from 

 the tusks ; and the Jakutski of the neighbourhood had cut off the 

 flesh, with which they fed their dogs during the scarcity. Wild 



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