MAMMOTHS AND MASTODONS 119 



carried such magnificent ivory hooks on his head ! 

 And what a sight a whole herd of these creatures 

 must have been when they made their way 

 through the forests ! Nothing could stop the prog- 

 ress of such a procession of Mammoths. They 

 tramped down tall grasses and underbrush, leaving 

 not a blade or a twig standing. When trees blocked 

 their passage, they wound their great trunks about 

 them and laid them low. When they came to the 

 bank of a river, they forded it if it was shallow, and 

 swam it if it was deep. As they climbed up the 

 opposite bank some of them, no doubt, became 

 mired and found it impossible to free themselves 

 from the oozing mud. Imprisoned in this manner 

 they died, sinking farther and farther into the earth 

 until they entirely disappeared from sight. But the 

 large majority of this traveling herd made their way 

 up the bank in safety and journeyed on, leaving 

 destruction in their pathway. And when they 

 joined together and sent up a chorus of trumpetings, 

 terrible was the sound thereof. 



Such a scene as this must have occurred count- 

 less times throughout the world in the very places 



