158 WALKS AND TALKS. 



St. Petersburg was duplicated at Stuttgart under the direc- 

 tion of Dr. Fraas, from various bones collected from different 

 parts of Europe. Dr. Fraas, from samples of skin and hair 

 still existing, ventured to give the extinct Mammoth a com- 

 plete restoration. Professor Ward, the great museum-builder 

 of America, saw this monster of Mammoths standing in the 

 Museum at Stuttgart and purchased it. Transporting it to 

 Rochester, he reared a duplicate, which stood for months in the 

 Ward Museum, where I had the opportunity of subjecting the 

 creature to a careful study. Let us go back and repeat the visit. 



" As we enter the door of the building which has been 

 erected for the accommodation of this antediluvian, a dark 

 mountain of flesh rises before us. We had gauged our ap- 

 prehension to the familiar bulk of the elephant, but here the 

 eye must be lifted to a higher altitude; the whole thought 

 must swell to take in the idea of the towering form which 

 looms above us and frowns darkly and severely down upon us. 

 The monster's brow rises like some old granite dome, weather- 

 beaten and darkened by the lapse of geologic ages. Two 

 winding streams of ivory descend like glaciers from the base 

 of the dome, while the corrugated and beetling proboscis 

 swells between them like the embattled crest which divides 

 two Alpine glacier-torrents. Behind expands and uprises the 

 mountain mass of which these are the accessories. Serene and 

 motionless as Mont Blanc this majestic form stands awaiting 

 our wonder and adoration. No astonishment disconcerts it ; 

 no exclamations stir a feature. 



Unlike the dumb mountain, however, this form seems in 

 a mood of contemplation. All this dark and towering mass 

 is conscious. There are eyes which open on us and take cog- 

 nizance of our movements ; there are ears which take in the 

 sounds of our voice. This creature contemplates us; he 

 throws a spell over us ; he has us in his power. 



The mammoth ! aye the mammoth of mammoths ! With 

 long breath, after this suspense of amazement, we extricate 

 ourselves from his spell, and meet his overpowering stare 

 with the force of intelligent will. He is but a beast let us 



