8 
‘ magnitude. The flesh, the skin, and the hair, were in a state of preservation^ 
f and it. was supposed that the fossil production known under the name of Mam- 
f moth’s horns, must have belonged to an animal of this species. Mr. Popoff, 
f had at the same time the kindness to present me with a drawing and description 
f of this animal, and I thought it right to send them both to the President of the 
‘ Academy of Petersburg.* The news of this interesting discovery determined 
f me to hasten the journey which I had in contemplation for the purpose of 
f visiting the shores of the Lena as far as the Frozen Ocean ; wishing to pre- 
f serve these precious remains which might otherwise be lost. My stay at 
' Jakutsk consequently did not last many days; I set off on the 7th of June, 
f 1806, furnished with some necessary letters, of which part were for the agents 
f of government and the merchants whose assistance I thought would be useful 
f in my researches. On the 16th of June I arrived at the little town of Schigansk, 
f and towards the end of this same month I was at Kuma-Surka; from thence I 
f made a particular excursion of which the Mammoth was the object, and I will 
c now relate what my journal contains on that subject.f 
c The contrary winds which had prevailed during the whole summer, 
f delayed my departure from Kuma : this place w as then inhabited by forty or 
f fifty Tungusian families, who were generally employed in fishing, &c. 
f The wind having at length changed, I determined to pursue my journey, 
c and passed my rein-deer across the river. The next day at sun rise I set off, 
c accompanied by the Tungusian chief Ossip Schumachof, the merchant of 
e Kuma-Surka, Belikoff, my hunter, three Kossaks, and ten Tungusians. The 
f Tungusian chief w^as the person who had first discovered the Mammoth, and 
f w ho was proprietor of the territory through which our route lay. The merchant 
c of Kuma-Surka had passed almost alL his life on the shores of the frozen sea; 
f his zeal and the advice he gave me have the strongest claim to my gratitude, 
f and I even owe to him the preservation of my life in a moment of danger. 
r We passed in our way over high steep mountains, vallies which 
6 followed the course of small brooks, and dry and wild plains, where not a shrub 
* Telesius says these are both preserved in the Academy but describes the drawing as very bad, repre¬ 
senting a pig rather than an elephant, with red hair on the back. He says that the description was 
quite worthy of the drawing. 
+ Some parts of this account not immediately relating to the object in view are here omitted. 
