612 FROZEN MAMMOTH IN SIBERIA. 



niit'ortunate circumstances, Yavlovski tells me that rains during the 

 summer had washed a mass of earth down the slope in which the mam- 

 moth lies, so that bones were toi"n from the hind part of the body, 

 the entire back was exposed, and most of the head skin was devoured 

 by bears and wolves. At the iirst examination the trunk was already 

 gone. Yavlovski reported that he had collected all the bones l^^ing 

 about, i^laced them on top of the animal, and covered all with earth 

 and stones, so that no more damage would be likely to result before 

 my arrival. As he saw no hair or wool on the exposed parts, he 

 thought that either there had been none or else it had been washed 

 away by the rains. 



1 am very sorry I could not see the Lamut, S. Tarabykin, who dis- 

 covered the mammoth, but he was absent at this time. I can therefore 

 give the details of the discovery only as related to me, as follows, by 

 Yavlovski: About the middle of August, 19()0, while the Lamut 

 Tarabykin was chasing a deer, he found a mammotirs tusk, weighing 

 about 166 English pounds, a little above the present find, and continu- 

 ing the search soon discovered the well-preserved head of a second 

 mammoth protruding from the ground, upon which, however, there 

 was but one tusk. On account of the superstitious fear that the 

 Lamuts have of whole mammoth bodies, whose excavation they believe 

 produces sickness, Tarabykin returned to his tent, about 15 miles dis- 

 tant, and told of his discovery to the two Lamuts, JNI. Tapchin and 

 V. Dietkov. These two men visited me twice at the place of discovery, 

 and after persistent inquiry informed me tliat at the time of tinding 

 the animal the skin upon its head had alreadj^ partly decayed, and 

 that there was no trunk, or '^ nose," as they described it. The Lanuits 

 said that at the part where they chopped off the tusk, on the day fol- 

 lowing the discovery, there was left only a small piece of decayed skin. 

 They" ])elieved that the head had been exposed for about a year before 

 they found it, but insisted that they had never seen it before, as it was 

 the first time they had visited the place, and that in general they had 

 never before in their lives seen a mammoth. We must observe that 

 the Lamut Tapchin was over 90 years old. 



At the end of August, 1000, all three Lamuts repaired to Kolyma, 

 where they sold the two tusks to Yavlovski, telling him that the 

 smaller tusk, weighing a little over 63 pounds, belonged to a mam- 

 moth which was probably still in the ground in a good state of 

 preservation, but which they dared not touch. The Cossack Yav- 

 lovski, being the more intelligent man, understood the importance of 

 this discovery and agreed to meet them on the 1st of November and 

 go with them to see the mammoth. He told the Lamuts that if what 

 they related was true he would report it to the Emperor, which might 

 result in the fitting out of an expedition to transport the entire animal 

 to St. Petersburg. This satisfied the Lamuts, but it is to be regretted 



