152 Journey to the Frozen Sea, and 



more twisted h\ a different direction than the teeth of an 

 elephant. Ivory-turners, who have wrought upon these two 

 substances, say that the mammoth's horn, by its colour and 

 inferior density, differs considerably from ivory. I have 

 seen some of them which formed in their curvature three 

 fourths of a circle; and at Jakoutsk, another of the length 

 of two tolses and a half, and which were an trchine thick 

 near the root, and weighed seven pouds. It is to be re- 

 marked, that the point of the tusks on the exterior side 

 is always more or less worn down : this enables the inhabi- 

 tants of the Frozen Sea to distinguish the right from the left 

 tusk. 



The mammoth is covered with a very thick hair through 

 the whole body, and has a long mane upon its neck. Even 

 admitting that I doubted the stories of my travelling com- 

 panions, it is nevertheless evident that the bristles of the 

 ienfrth of an archine, which were also found upon the head, 

 the ears, and the neck of the animal, must necessarily have 

 belonged either to the mane or to the tail. Schoumachoff 

 n)aintains that he never saw any trunk belonging to the ani- 

 mal, but it is probable that it was carried off by wild 

 beasts; for it would be inconceivable that the mammoth 

 could eat with so small a snout, and with such enormous 

 tusks, if we do not allow it to have had a trunk. The 

 mammoth, according to these indications, would conse- 

 quently belong to the elephant species, andM. Blumenbach, 

 in his system, actually calls \i Elephas prhncevus. 



To conclude : — The mammoth in my possession is quite 

 different from that found near New York, which, from the 

 description given iu the Journal called the Museum des 

 IVundervollen, had carnivorous teeth*. M. Cuvier has 

 proved in a most satisfactory manner, that the mammoth is 

 a particular species of antediluvian animals. 



Another question still remains tfi be decided. Has the 

 mammoth originally inhabited the countries of the pole, or 

 those of the tropics ? The thick hair with which this ani- 

 mal is covered seems to indicate, that it belonged to the 



* See Pliilosophical Magazine, vol. :xiv. p. IC'i. L'Sg. 33L\ 



northern 



