156 WALKS AND TALKS. 



Drift epoch. We may conclude, therefore, that the Elephant 

 came down from the Tertiary Age. Indeed, we shall see 

 from the facts to be stated in the next Talk, that both Ele- 

 phant and Mastodon began to exist before the Quaternary Age. 

 Some very remarkable facts have come to light from 

 northern Siberia. That inhospitable region was once a home 

 for tropic loving Elephants. More than a hundred years ago, 

 not only their ivory, but their carcasses, were known to exist 

 in Siberia imbedded in solid ice. The first discovery was on 

 the borders of the Aleseia River, w r hich flows into the Arctic 

 Ocean beyond the Indigirka. The body was still standing 

 erect, and was almost perfect. The skin remained in place, 

 and the hair and fur were still attached in spots. In 1772, 

 the body of a perfect two-toed rhinoceros covered with hair, 

 was found preserved in frozen gravel near the Vilhoui or 

 Wiljui, a tributary of the Lena, in latitude 64. The head 

 and feet of this animal also related to tropical species are 

 preserved in St. Petersburg. The most celebrated discovery 

 was made in 1799. A Tungusian fisherman named Schuma- 

 choff was exploring along the coast of the frozen ocean for 

 ivory. Near the mouth of the Lena he noticed, in a huge 

 block of clear glacier ice, a dark, strange object deeply im- 

 bedded. His half savage curiosity was not strong enough to 

 lead him to undertake the work of exploration. In 1801 the 

 melting of the ice had exposed a portion of the carcass. It 

 was a beast like those whose ivory lay strewn along those 

 frozen shores. In 1804, the Tungusian was able to remove 

 the tusks. They weighed three hundred pounds, and he dis- 

 posed of them for fifty rubles, to an ivory merchant. In 

 1806, Mr. Adams, who was collecting for the imperial museum 

 at St. Petersburg, found the carcass still on the shore, but 

 greatly mutilated. It appeared that the Yakutski had actu- 

 ally regaled their dogs upon the flesh ; and bears, wolves, wol- 

 verines, and foxes had gladly feasted upon it ! Fresh meat 

 already laid away in ice before that garden was planted in 

 Eden ! Thus this priceless relic of a prehistoric world was 

 allowed to waste away. But it was not completely lost to 



