214 EXTINCT MONSTERS. 



solution of the question, which seems to present no difficulties. 

 That it was hunted by the primitive folk of the " Reindeer 

 period " in France, is proved by its remains in the caves where 

 men dwelt, and by a drawing cut by a hunter of the older Stone 

 Age on one of its own tusks ! A cast of this most interesting relic 

 may be seen in the prehistoric collection at the British Museum, and 

 shows that the men of that time were not devoid of artistic power 

 (see Fig. 53). Some of the lines in this illustration represent cracks 

 in the original, so that the actual outline is not easily made out. 

 But here we see the head particularly well drawn, the tusks and 

 downward lines indicating the hairy mane. Reindeer and other 



FlG. 53. Figure of the Mammoth, engraved on Mammoth ivory by cave- 

 men, La Madelaine, France. In the Lartet Collection, Paris. 



animals were also engraved on horn, etc., by the men who were 

 contemporary with the Mammoth. 



We know that man has exterminated a great many noble animals 

 in his time, and, alas ! continues to do so at the present time in 

 Africa, and in North and South America. The giraffe and the 

 bison, once so plentiful, are now almost extinct. Primitive man 

 was a hunter, and, as he multiplied, his wants became greater, 

 and more animals were therefore destroyed. Probably the same 

 explanation applies to the great Moa bird of New Zealand, and 

 possibly even to the Megatherium of South America. 



