﻿T. 
  BELT 
  ON 
  IH£ 
  STEPPES 
  OF 
  SIBEEIA. 
  495 
  

  

  by 
  the 
  supposition 
  that 
  a 
  current 
  of 
  warm 
  sea-water 
  passing 
  from 
  

   the 
  Mediterranean 
  to 
  the 
  Glacial 
  sea 
  took 
  its 
  course 
  along 
  the 
  then 
  

   existing 
  Altaic 
  coast. 
  The 
  Mammoths, 
  remains 
  of 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  

   found 
  in 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  caves 
  of 
  the 
  Altai, 
  may 
  have 
  hived 
  upon 
  large 
  

   flat 
  islands 
  rising 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  Diluvial 
  sea"*. 
  I 
  have 
  given 
  Prof. 
  

   Cotta's 
  theory, 
  but 
  may 
  remark 
  that 
  the 
  supposition 
  of 
  the 
  

   Mammoths 
  having 
  lived 
  on 
  islands 
  is 
  not 
  necessary, 
  as, 
  if 
  the 
  

   area 
  was 
  once 
  occupied 
  by 
  the 
  ocean, 
  the 
  Mammoths 
  might 
  follow 
  

   its 
  retreating 
  coast 
  as 
  the 
  land 
  was 
  gradually 
  elevated. 
  I 
  believe 
  

   that 
  the 
  absence 
  of 
  sea-shells 
  is 
  fatal 
  to 
  the 
  marine 
  theory: 
  

   I 
  searched 
  diligently 
  for 
  them 
  and 
  could 
  find 
  none 
  ; 
  and 
  excepting 
  

   in 
  the 
  extreme 
  north, 
  around 
  the 
  present 
  coast, 
  I 
  believe 
  none 
  have 
  

   been 
  found 
  by 
  other 
  observers. 
  The 
  mollusca 
  exist 
  all 
  over 
  the 
  

   present 
  ocean 
  ; 
  they 
  abound 
  around 
  Greenland, 
  even 
  within 
  a 
  short 
  

   distance 
  of 
  the 
  foot 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  glaciers. 
  I 
  do 
  not 
  contend 
  that 
  the 
  

   presence 
  of 
  shells 
  of 
  Cyrena 
  fluminalis 
  is 
  a 
  proof 
  that 
  the 
  waters 
  in 
  

   which 
  the 
  sands 
  were 
  deposited 
  were 
  not 
  marine, 
  as 
  they 
  might 
  

   have 
  been 
  (and, 
  I 
  believe, 
  were) 
  brought 
  down 
  to 
  the 
  area 
  by 
  streams 
  

   from 
  the 
  south 
  ; 
  but 
  their 
  preservation 
  in 
  the 
  sands 
  proves 
  that 
  

   marine 
  shells 
  did 
  not 
  exist 
  there, 
  or 
  their 
  remains 
  would 
  also 
  be 
  

   found. 
  I 
  have 
  visited 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  coasts 
  of 
  the 
  world, 
  and 
  dredged 
  

   in 
  northern 
  waters, 
  and 
  everywhere 
  found 
  marine 
  mollusks 
  to 
  

   abound 
  ; 
  and 
  I 
  believe 
  that 
  the 
  absence 
  of 
  sea-shells 
  in 
  any 
  Tertiary 
  

   or 
  Post-tertiary 
  strata, 
  excepting 
  in 
  some 
  muddy 
  deposits 
  in 
  which 
  

   they 
  could 
  not 
  well 
  live, 
  is 
  a 
  proof 
  that 
  these 
  strata 
  were 
  not 
  depo- 
  

   sited 
  in 
  the 
  great 
  ocean. 
  Utterly 
  improbable 
  is 
  it 
  that, 
  according 
  to 
  

   von 
  Cotta's 
  theory, 
  a 
  warm 
  sea- 
  current 
  flowing 
  to 
  the 
  pole 
  passed 
  

   over 
  this 
  area. 
  All 
  our 
  experience 
  of 
  the 
  existing 
  ocean 
  proves 
  that 
  

   such 
  a 
  warm 
  current 
  would 
  have 
  teemed 
  with 
  marine 
  life. 
  

  

  Rejecting 
  the 
  theory 
  of 
  a 
  marine 
  submergence, 
  I 
  next 
  took 
  into 
  

   consideration 
  the 
  possibility 
  of 
  a 
  barrier 
  having 
  existed 
  to 
  the 
  

   north 
  that 
  dammed 
  back 
  the 
  drainage 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  and 
  produced 
  

   an 
  immense 
  lake 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  sands 
  were 
  spread 
  out. 
  I 
  found 
  it 
  

   difficult 
  to 
  conceive 
  of 
  any 
  rise 
  of 
  land 
  to 
  the 
  north 
  that 
  could 
  have 
  

   formed 
  such 
  a 
  barrier 
  ; 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  also 
  to 
  be 
  remarked 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  

   evidence 
  in 
  the 
  marine 
  shells 
  of 
  the 
  northern 
  border 
  that 
  it 
  stood 
  

   lower, 
  and 
  not 
  higher, 
  than 
  it 
  now 
  does. 
  If 
  there 
  was 
  now 
  a 
  rise 
  

   of 
  the 
  northern 
  boundary 
  of 
  the 
  continent, 
  would 
  the 
  drainage 
  of 
  the 
  

   country 
  be 
  pounded 
  back 
  ? 
  or 
  would 
  not 
  the 
  rivers 
  cut 
  down 
  their 
  

   channels 
  and 
  still 
  keep 
  open 
  their 
  outlets 
  to 
  the 
  sea 
  ? 
  

  

  Before 
  reaching 
  Pavlodav 
  I 
  had 
  come 
  to 
  the 
  conclusion 
  that 
  it 
  

   was 
  probably 
  an 
  overflow 
  of 
  polar 
  ice 
  that 
  had 
  blocked 
  up 
  the 
  

   drainage 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  ; 
  and 
  when 
  I 
  reached 
  that 
  town 
  and 
  at 
  last 
  

   got 
  a 
  sight 
  of 
  the 
  ancient 
  bed-rock 
  over 
  which 
  the 
  ice 
  must 
  have 
  

   moved 
  if 
  it 
  existed, 
  and 
  saw 
  the 
  crushed 
  and 
  shattered 
  surface 
  and 
  

   the 
  fragments 
  pushed 
  up 
  into 
  the 
  overlying 
  silt, 
  I 
  no 
  longer 
  

   hesitated 
  to 
  adopt 
  the 
  theory 
  ; 
  for 
  the 
  appearances 
  presented 
  in 
  the 
  

   river-cliff 
  were 
  just 
  such 
  as 
  might 
  be 
  expected 
  to 
  be 
  produced 
  at 
  the 
  

   foot 
  of 
  an 
  ice-flow 
  advancing 
  against 
  the 
  slope 
  of 
  the 
  continent. 
  

   * 
  Quart. 
  Jouru. 
  Geol. 
  Soc. 
  1869. 
  

  

  