80 MAX. 



to be sacred, and probably worshiped by the most ancient 

 Mexicans. If this be true, then certain individuals were 

 kept and cared for long after the species had virtually 

 ceased to be. Then, upon this hypothesis, the traders, 

 among the last remnants of the Mound-Builders in the 

 North- West, may have seen, worshiped, and then pro- 

 duced the image of this animal. 



VIII. TRADITIOX. 



No tradition of the existence of the mammoth or mas- 

 todon has been preserved in Europe. In America there 

 was a tradition among the Indians which was supposed to 

 have referred to the mastodon. There are two accounts 

 of this tradition, both of which are herewith given. The 

 first is taken from Peale's pamphlet on the " Mammoth." 

 " Ten thousand moons ago, when nought but gloomy forests 

 covered this land of the sleeping sun ; long before the pale 

 men, with thunder and fire at their command, rushed on 

 the wings of the wind to ruin this garden of nature ; when 

 nought but the untamed wanderers of the woods, and men 

 as unrestrained as they were the lords of the soil ; a race 

 of animals existed, huge as the frowning precipice, cruel 

 as the bloody panther, swift as the descending eagle, and 

 terrible as the angel of night. The pines crashed beneath 

 his feet, and the lake shrunk when they slaked their thirst; 

 the forceful javelin in vain was hurled, and the barbed 

 arrow fell harmless from their side. Forests were laid 

 waste at a meal; the groans of expiring animals were 

 everywhere heard, and whole villages, inhabited by men, 

 were destroyed in a moment. The cry of universal distress 

 extended even to the region of peace in the West, and the 

 good Spirit interposed to save the unhappy. The forked 

 lightning gleamed around, and loudest thunder rocked the 

 globe ! The bolts of heaven were hurled upon the cruel 

 destroyers alone, and the mountains echoed with the bel- 



