or Fossil Elephant. 105 



' All these parts have necessarily been injured in transporting 

 them a distance of 11,000 wersts (7,330 miles.) Yet the eyes 

 have been preserved, and the pupil of the left eye can still be 

 distinguished*. The point of the lower lip had been gnawed, 

 and the upper one having been destroyed, the teeth could be 

 perceived. The brain was still in the cranium, but appeared 

 dried up. 



' The parts least injured are one fore foot and one hind foot; 

 they are covered with skin, and have still the sole attached. 

 According to the assertion of the Tungusian chief, the animal 

 was so fat and well fed that its belly hung down below the 

 joints of the knees. This Mammoth was a male, with a long 

 mane on the neck, but without tail or proboscis f. The skin, 

 of which I possess three-fourths, is of a dark grey colour, co- 

 vered with a reddish wool and black hairs. The dampness of 

 the spot where the animal had lain so long, had in some de- 

 gree destroyed the hair. The entire carcase, of which I col- 

 lected the bones on the spot, is four archines (9 ft. 4 in.) high, 

 and seven archines (16 ft. 4 in.) long from the point of the nose 

 to the end of the tail, without including the tusks, which are a 

 toise and a half J in length ; the two together weighed 360 lbs. 

 avoirdupois; the head alone, without the tusks, weighs 11 

 poods and a half (414 lbs. avoirdupois.) 



' The principal object of my care was to separate the bones, 

 to arrange them, and put them up safely, which was done with 

 particular attention. I had the satisfaction to find the other 

 scapula, which had remained not far off. I next detached the 

 skin of the side on which the animal had lain, which was well 

 preserved. This skin was of such extraordinary weight that 

 ten persons found great difficulty in transporting it to the shore. 

 After this I dug the ground in different places to ascertain 



* A dried substance is visible, but it is not certain whether it is the pupil 

 of the eye. 



t The places of the insertion of the muscles of the proboscis are visible 

 on the skull, it was probably devoured as well as the end of the tail. 



J 9 ft. 6 in., measuring along the curve;. The distance from the base of 

 the root of the tusk to the point is 3 ft. 7 in. 



