56 



leton of so large an animal, with herbivorous 

 grinders^ extant; nor have I met with any of its 

 bones in a state of preservation . but such as had 

 been affected by salines and salt. The tusks 

 and grinders alone remain : they in some de- 

 gree resist the corrosion of time; though I la- 

 ment to observe, that exposure to external air 

 hastens them to a too sudd'en decay. The bones 

 of this animal have never been found on the 

 surface of the ground, — but sometimes 12 ft. 

 underneath it, — and in one instance, below a 

 lime-stone rock of immense solidity, which had 

 grown over them, in the natural process of some 

 thousand years I 



For want of the evidence of the real her- 

 bivorous grinders, and in consequence of the 

 inclemency of this hemisphere, Mr. Jefferson 

 could not admit of the existence of an animal, 

 of the genus and sensibility of the elephant, 

 in America ; nor could I, were I not firm- 

 ly convinced from my own careful observa- 

 tions, and the remarks of a celebrated author, 

 M. Volney, that the climate and face of na- 

 ture is entirely changed. For there is no 

 doubt, tliat the whole scope of country from 

 above a rano-e of mountains which cros** the 



