118 MIGHTY ANIMALS 



in height. But wild elephants over twelve feet tall 

 have been captured. So far nothing has been dis- 

 covered to prove that the Mammoth exceeded thir- 

 teen feet in height. When we remember, however, 

 that a ceiling in a dwelling house is seldom more 

 than ten feet high, an animal thirteen feet tall 

 seems an enormous creature. 



Many of the Mammoths were covered with hair, 

 and these are known as the Hairy Mammoths. Next 

 to the skin was a mass of soft brownish wool ; then 

 came a layer of fine hair, and outside of this was a 

 coat of very coarse hair fully eighteen inches long. 

 This hair kept the Mammoths warm when the cli- 

 mate was cold and also must have served as a protec- 

 tion against enemies. For surely when an animal tried 

 to bite one of these Mammoths he found its hair very 

 much in his way, and very much in his mouth, too. 



The tusks of the Hairy Mammoth were wonderful 

 and beautiful. Instead of being straight like the 

 tusks of the living elephant, they curved outward 

 and upward almost making a circle. They were like 

 enormous hooks of ivory and sometimes thirteen 

 feet long. What a mighty beast he was which 



