scended the Ohio ; traversed the deptlis of the 

 valley and the highest summit of the mountain; 

 saw the Illinois, the Mississippi, and the Mis- 

 souri ; and at length obtained the completion 

 of my wish, the ardent object of my prayer, — 

 a collection of bones, vulgarly called mammoth 

 bones, but which I sliall treat on under separate 

 heads. 



Before, however, I go into details of this 

 particular nature, it may be amusing to you, to 

 hear the conjectures of those who have passed 

 before me, and the authorities on which such 

 conjectures were grounded. 



It is now ninety years ago, since the first 

 remains of this animal were found in America. 

 They were then thought to be the remains of % 

 Giant! The formation of the teeth, the under 

 jaw, the singularity and size of the bones, and 

 the difficulty of discovermg what part they per- 

 formed in the animal machine, led to this egre- 

 gious error ; which was augmented by that dis- 

 position to the marvellous, which emigration 

 cncourao-es mankind to feel. This absurd idea 

 gave Avay to one, not more sound. These re- 

 mains vfQXQc^W^d extraneous fossils by some, by 



