202 QUARTERLY JOURNAL. 



outwards to the extent of ten feet, must have been a unique object 

 upon the hills in our vicinity. What their habits were, cannot be 

 well determined now ; but we know that they must have been vege- 

 table feeders, and have browsed upon trees of no mean height and 

 size. A circumstance of some interest in their history is, that they 

 appear to have been confined to the western side of the present 

 valley of the Hudson ; for so far as observations have been made, 

 their remains have not been found either north of the Mohawk val- 

 ley, or east of the Hudson river. Although the bones belonging to 

 many different individuals have been discovered in the counties of 

 Albany and Greene in this State, and in the adjacent counties in 

 New-Jersey, still this part of the continent does not appear to have 

 been their favorite haunt. We must go into the valley of the Mis- 

 sissippi, if we would form a true conception of their former numbers 

 and importance. The Bigbone licks are known the world over, as 

 the cemetery of hundreds of these animals. But here they are not 

 solitary and alone : numerous bones of other animals, known now 

 to be extinct, lie entombed with them in those saline deposits. The 

 horse, the ox, the buffalo, and some others, appear to have been 

 their companions, and to have made these spots a favorite resort. 

 Still farther west, they were equally if not more abundant. Not lon^ 

 ago, a collection of bones was brought from the Mississippi valley 

 w^hich must have appertained to more than five hundred individuals 

 comprising those of all ages, the young, the mature, and the old 

 The Helderberg hills seem to have been the limit of their wander 

 ings in this direction, the base of the Rocky mountains their extreme 

 west, and the valley of the Mississippi the centre of their range 

 The most interesting question in regard to these animals, is that 

 which inquires the cause of their extinction. On this question w. 

 are not prepared to sustain an opinion, nor even to offer one that ii 

 any thing like satisfactory to ourselves. If we recur to the flood o 

 Noah, we are by no means authorised to believe that we have as 

 signed the true cause ; though, upon a superficial view, that cata 

 strophe seems to ofl'er a plausible solution. The investigations oi 

 geologists show that many deluges have occurred, at different time 

 and on different portions of the earth's surface. The subject, how 

 ever, is one that is still in a course of investigation : time will unfolt 

 her secrets ; and we are persuaded that facts bearing directly upo)| 

 these points will yet be disclosed, wliich shall reveal to us the whol 

 mystery of the lost races. 



