T>esc)'iplioil of the Remains of a Mammolk. 147 



at the same time some trusty dependents not to suffer any 

 part of this treasure to be carried away. 



<*Bul the summer being colder and more windy than usual, 

 kept the manmioth sunk in the ice, which scarcely melted 

 at all that season. At last, about the end of the fifth year 

 after\Vards, the ardent desires of Schoumachoff were happily 

 accomplished : the ice which inclosed the mammoth having 

 partly melted, the level became sloped, and this enormous 

 mass, pushed forward by its own weight, fell over upon its 

 side on a sand-bark. Of this two Toungouscs were wit- 

 nesses who accompanied mc in niy journey. In the month 

 of March 1804, Schoumachoft'came to his mammoth, and 

 having got his horns cut off, he change*! them with Baltou- 

 uoff the merchant for merchandise of th'i value of 50 rou- 

 bles. On this occasion a drawing of the animal was made, 

 but it was very incorrect ; they described it with pointed 

 ears, very small eyes, horses' hoofs, and a bristly mane 

 along the whole of his back ; so that the drawing repre- 

 sented something between a pig and an elephant." 



Two years afterwards, being the seventh from the disco- 

 very of the mammoth, a fortunate ci,rcum3tance occasioned 

 my visit to these distant and desert regions, and I congra- 

 tulate myself upon having it in my power to ascertain and 

 verify a fact, which would otherwise be thought so im- 

 probable. 



I found the mammoth still upon the same spot, but com- 

 pletely mutilated. The prejudices against it having been 

 dissipated, because the Toungouse chief had recovered his 

 health, the carcase of the mammoth might be approached 

 without any obstacle : the proprietor was content with the 

 profit ht; had already derived from it, and the .Takouts of the 

 iiejffhbourhood tore off the flesh, with which thev fed their 

 dogs. Ferocious animals — white bears of the north pole, 

 gluttons, wolves, and foxes — preyed upon it al-o, and their 

 burrows were seen in the neighbourhood. The skeleton, 

 almost completely unfleshed, was entire, with the exception 

 of one of the fore feet. The spondylc, from the head to ihr 

 OS coccygis, a shoulder-blade, the pelvis, and the remains 

 of the three extremities, were still tightly attached by the' 

 K 2 nerve? 



