106 On the Mammoth, 



whether any of its bones were buried, but principally to collect 

 all the hairs * which the white bears had trod into the ground 

 while devouring the flesh. Although this was difficult from the 

 want of proper instruments, I succeeded in collecting more 

 than a poud (36 pounds) of hair. In a few days the work was 

 completed, and I found myself in possession of a treasure 

 which amply recompensed me for the fatigues and dangers of 

 the journey, and the considerable expenses of the enterprise. 



' The place where I found the Mammoth is about 60 paces 

 distant from the shore, and nearly 100 paces from the escarp- 

 ment of the ice from which it had fallen. This escarpment 

 occupies exactly the middle between the two points of the pe- 

 ninsula, and is three wersts long, (two miles), and in the place 

 where the Mammoth was found, this rock has a perpendicular 

 elevation of 30 or 40 toises. Its substance is a clear pure ice ; 

 it inclines towards the sea ; its top is covered with a layer of 

 moss and friable earth, half an archine (14 inches) in thick- 

 ness. During the heat of the month of July a part of this crust 

 is melted, but the rest remains frozen. Curiosity induced me 

 to ascend two other hills at some distance from the sea ; they 

 were of the same substance and less covered with moss. In 

 various places were seen enormous pieces of wood of all the 

 kinds produced in Siberia ; and also Mammoths' horns in great 

 numbers appeared between the hollows of the rocks; they 

 all were of astonishing freshness. 



' How all these things could become collected there, is a 

 question as curious as it is difficult to resolve. The inhabi- 

 tants of the coast call this kind of wood adamschina, and dis- 

 tinguish it from the floating pieces of wood which are brought 

 down by the large rivers to the ocean, and collect in masses on 

 the shores of the frozen sea. The latter are called noachina. I 

 have seen, when the ice melts, large lumps of earth detached 

 from the hills, mix with the water, and form thick muddy tor- 

 rents, which roll slowly towards the sea. This earth forms 

 wedges which fill up the spaces between the blocks of ice. 



* On the arrival of the skin at Petersburg it was totally devoid of hair. 



