236 SPARKS FROM A GEOLOGIST'S HAMMER. 



vides two Alpine glacier-torrents. Behind expands and 

 uprises the mountain mass of which these are the acces- 

 sories. Serene and motionless as Mont Blanc this majes- 

 tic 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 cognizance of our movements; there are ears which 

 take in the sounds of our voice. This creature contem- 

 plates us ; he throws a spell over us ; he has us in his 

 power. 



The mammoth! aye, the mammoth of mammoths! With 

 a long breath, after this suspense of amazement, we ex- 

 tricate ourselves from his spell, and meet his overpower- 

 ing stare with the force of intelligent will. He is but a 

 beast, let us analyze the sources of his power over us. 

 He stands sixteen feet in height. His extreme length is 

 twenty-six feet, and the distance between the tips of his 

 tusks is fourteen feet. His body is thirty feet in circum- 

 ference close to the skin. The sole of his foot is three 

 feet in diameter. His tusks are fourteen feet long and 

 one foot in diameter at the base. Between his short, 

 post-like fore-legs a man can stand upright with his hat 

 on without touching the animal's body. The whole ex- 

 terior is clothed with dark, shaggy hair, quite unlike the 

 modern elephants, and under the throat it attains a length 

 of twelve to fifteen inches. There is a gallery in this 

 building, and the monster's eye is nearly on a level with 

 it. We ascend to the gallery to obtain a more command- 

 ing position, and there experience a sensible relief in 

 finding this formidable creature partially beneath us. 



