£26 Journey to the Frozen Sea, and 
he changed them with Baltounoff the merchant for mer- 
chandize of the value of fifty roubles. On this occasion 
a drawing of the animal was made, but it was very incor- 
rect; they described it with pointed ears, very small eyes, 
horses* hoofs, and a bristly mane along the whole of his 
back; so that the drawing represented something between 
a pig and an elephant.** 
Two years afterwards, being the seventh from the dis- 
covery of the mammoth, a fortunate circumstance occa» 
sioned my visit to these distant and desert regions, and I 
congratulate myself upon having it in my power to ascer- 
tain and verify a fact, which would otherwise be thought 
so improbable. 
I found the mammoth still upon the same spot, but 
completely mutilated. The prejudices against it having 
been dissipated, because the Toungouse chief had reco- 
vered his health, the carcase of the mammoth might be 
approached without any obstacle: the proprietor was 
content with the profit he had already derived from it* 
and the Jakouts of the neighbourhood tore off the flesh, 
with which they fed their dogs. Ferocious animals— 
white bears of the north pole, gluttons, wolves, and 
foxes — preyed upon it also, and their burrows were seen 
in the neighbourhood. The skeleton, almost completely 
unfleshed, was entire, with the exception of one of the 
fore feet. The spondyle, from the head to the os coc- 
cygis, a shoulder-blade, the pelvis, and the remains of 
the three extremities, were still tightly attached by the 
nerves of the joints, and by strips of skin on the exterior 
side of the carcase. The head was covered with a dry 
skin ; one of the ears, well preserved, was furnished with 
a tuft of bristles. All these parts must necessarily have 
suffered by a carriage of eleven thousand wersts. The 
eyes, however, are preserved, and we can still distinguish 
the ball of the left eye. The tip of the under lip has 
