103 ELEPHANT OF THE LENA. 
from thence, I made a particular excursion, of 
which the Mammoth was the object, and I will 
now relate what my journal contains on that 
subject.* 
“ The contrary winds, which had prevailed 
during the whole summer, delayed my departure 
from Kuma : this place was then inhabited by 
forty or fifty Tungusian families, who were gene- 
rally employed in fishing, &c. 
“ The wind having at length changed, I deter- 
mined to pursue my journey, and passed my rein 
deer across the river. The next day at sun-rise, 
I set off, accompanied by the Tungusian chief, 
Ossip Schumachof, the merchant of Kuma-Surka, 
Belkoff, my hunter, three Kossaks, and ten Tun- 
gusians. The Tungusian chief was the person 
who had first discovered the Mammoth, and who 
was proprietor of the territory through which our 
route lay. The merchant of Kuma-Surka had 
passed almost all his life on the shores of the 
Frozen Sea ; his zeal, and the advice he gave me, 
have the strongest claim to my gratitude, and I 
even owe to him the preservation of my life in a 
moment of danger. 
“ We passed in our way over high steep 
mountains, valleys which followed the course of 
small brooks, and dry and wild plains, where not 
* Some parts of this account not immediately relating 
to the object in view, are here omitted. 
